Mary demures before the kneeling angel
Title of Art: Annunciation of Mary
Artist: Botticelli
Art Form: Painting
Date of Composition: 1489-1490
Event: Annunciation
Subjects: Mary, Mother of God
Ritual Pose/Object: lily, book
Exhibit Institution: Le Gallerie degli Uffizi (The Uffizi)
Exhibit Location: Florence, Italy
VM Image #: 0070
Photographer: Shala Graham
Date of Photograph: January 7, 2023
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This painting, commissioned for the Church of Cestello, captures the dynamic moment when the angel Gabriel appears to Mary. The angel brings a lily, symbolizing Mary's purity. Mary, who was reading a book, turns toward the angel. Their hands almost meet, the angel bestowing blessing and Mary receiving, in a posture of humility.
This depiction of the angel's announcement to Mary is a tempera painting on a wooden panel created for a church in a monastery. The art by Sandro Botticelli is an example of Italian Renaissance painting styles. Botticelli's Mary exists in an Italian interior with a view of the Italian landscape through the window. The painting dynamically depicts Mary at a moment of interruption. Mary has been reading scripture, when an angel bursts into her room with an invitation from God. Mary turns and reaches toward the angel, which gives Botticelli an opportunity to showcase his skill in rendering the human form in motion. The angel casts a shadow. Both figures are lifelike and were designed to draw their first viewers into a scene from Christ's life depicted in their own day and time.