The Annunciation - Sandro Botticelli (1445 - 1521)

From the beginning of Christianity in the catacombs, art has played a role in the faith formation of the believer.  During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, art was called the “Bible of the illiterate.” Those who could not read, the majority of the population at the time, learned about the life of Christ, Mary, the Saints and the basic tenets of Christianity through mosaics, icons, paintings, stained glass and sculpture. 

I believe art is still timeless and continues to play an essential role in faith formation.  For the month of December, 2019 I will be highlighting religious art and its continued role in faith formation. 

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Annunciation - Sandro Botticelli 

Also known as the Cestello Annunciation, this tempera on panel painting by Sandro Botticellli was commissioned for the Guardi family chapel in the monastery church of Cestello in Pinti in 1489.  This church is currently known as Santa Maria Maddalena de’Pazzi and the painting has been at the Uffizi in Florence since 1872.    

The topic of the painting is the dialogue between the Angel Gabriel and Mary as it takes place in Luke’s Gospel chapter 1:26-38.  The work represents the moment the angel arrives and presents a white lily, the symbol of purity, to Mary. 

Luke 1:26-38

"In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.  And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 

But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.  Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”  And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.  And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who is called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”  Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done unto me according to your word.”  Then the angel departed from her."

"Christian iconography expresses in images the same Gospel message that Scripture communicates by words.  Image and word illuminate each other."   CCC 1160

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