Above is the first photograph William created for his "It's in the Book" project: The Annunciation. This is the dramatic scene in which the angel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that she will bear the Savior of the world. It is one of the most artistically portrayed stories in all of scripture.
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “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 holy; he will be called Son of God.And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
This is the ultimate example of the ordinary becoming extraordinary—a young woman from an obscure town is visited by God's messenger. She is about to go from being a nobody to one of the most beloved figures in history. It demonstrates the nothing-is-impossible nature of God and how it can transform even the lowliest of people.
Here are some examples of historical works of art based on the story of the Annunciation.
The above piece was painted by Botticelli in 1489-90 for a funeral chapel in Florence, Italy. The angel is kneeling before Mary, as she is the favored one chosen by God. Yet he is a strange, other-worldly force appearing to her in her home to ask something monumental of her. You can almost get the sense that he is not kneeling as much as he is crouching to prepare himself to pounce upon her with divine power. Mary, in turn, is responding to his formidable force. She submits to God's will and this is shown by her tranquil pose. Yet her arms look rather defensive. She seems quite aware that what she has agreed to is a shocking undertaking for anyone, let alone a young girl from Nazareth. Carefully contemplating this painting can allow us to enter into the drama. We can see ourselves in the role of Mary and sense our own desire to follow God's will for our lives accompanied by a fear of just what that might entail.
This Annunciation is by El Greco painted in 1570-75. Again, the angel appears to be a formidable force. This time, this is represented by the fact that the angel is higher than Mary in the picture plane. He is, in fact, floating. In addition, he is accompanied by a trio of fat cherubs and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Clearly a divine, even supernatural event is occurring. Mary is dumbfounded. She gestures to herself like she cannot believe she is the one who has been chosen. While she looks submissive to the angel, El Greco does not give her a happy or excited facial expression. Meditating upon this painting can help us understand our own inability to believe God is calling us as well as a real concern about what is in store for us.
This painting is by Tintoretto from 1582. Like El Greco's painting, the angel Gabriel shows up with little cherubs. This time, however, there is a formidable gang of them, breaking into Mary's home. And the flailing, flying Gabriel and his guys are all above the poor girl—way above her—and they are all beaming down the power of the Spirit, as evidenced by the glowing dove. Mary embodies the look of being overwhelmed. She is sitting but she almost seems like she's been laid out, utterly riveted by this visitation. Perhaps she has already been overshadowed by the power of the most high. Studying this painting gives us a sense that when God shows up, you don't even have much choice. It is so powerful that you become overtaken and you simply must obey.
In this Annunciation by contemporary painter, John Collier, we see a modern rendition of the scene. Gabriel is showing up at Mary's home in the suburbs and speaking to this little school girl. The lily is a historical symbol for Mary, which represents her purity (the angel holds a lily in Botticelli's painting). The impression we get from this work is that Mary was a young, vulnerable girl when the task of becoming the mother of Jesus was placed before her. We often think of Mary in mythological terms but this helps us remember that she was probably a young woman of just 15 or 16 years when this occurred.
To view more examples of art works depicting the annunciation, there is a great on-line resource called Art-Bible.
For William's photograph, we decided above all, we wanted to show the emotional response on Mary's face. That's why we didn't even show you the face of the angel. Yet he dominates most of the picture plane—demonstrating his overwhelming power. He is not as aggressive as some of the other angels we've looked at. Instead, he's leaning casually against the counter top in the foreground as if to show that his power is so immense that he doesn't have to hard sell Mary—he simply shows up and that's enough to convince her.
In art, the Virgin Mary has a traditional color scheme of red with a blue overcoat and white in her hair. The white symbolizes her tranquility and purity, the red represents her passion, and the blue is of Byzantine origin and was the color worn by an empress, thus showing Mary's royalty—she is the queen of heaven. Our Mary wore a typical teenager's outfit that had these colors.
What we like about Mary's expression in this is that she is smiling enthusiastically as if to say "Yes, I'll take that mission," and yet there is a look of uncertainty in her eyes. She seems to know that she is getting herself in deep. Still, she submits to the angel's request.
We hope that contemplating this photograph will help you deal with your own awkwardness, your own insecurity about the demands God is making of you. Yet, you'll respond it faith with a smile, trusting like Mary, that whatever is in store for you will be wonderful.
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