Note 5 — ITALIAN

“In general, representations of the Annunciation before the Twelfth Century are rare; but after the beginning of the Thirteenth Century they become very frequent, appearing somewhere on every altar-piece—in medallions, or quatrefoils above the main panels, in the pinnacles, or in the predella, or painted, or carved on the outside of the shutters. The subject was often treated as a mystery, not as an actual scene. Generally only the Virgin and Angel were represented, although it was not unusual to find other figures. From the end of the Fourteenth until the Sixteenth Century, God the Father is often seen in the sky and the Dove of the Holy Spirit descends from Him to the Virgin on rays of light. The Virgin was represented seated, standing, about to rise at the approach of the Angel, or kneeling. Gabriel was pictured standing, or kneeling, before her, or just alighting on the earth, his feet not yet touching the ground. In the Thirteenth Century representations, notably in the painted glass windows, the Virgin and the Angel stand face to face; later the Italian artists represented the scene as taking place in an open loggia, while the Flemish artists painted the Virgin in meditation in her room when the Angel appeared to her. Before the Thirteenth Century, Mary was often represented with a basket of wool, or distaff as, according to the Protevangelion, she continued to spin for the Temple after she had become affianced to Joseph and was working when the Angel came. Gabriel bears the light staff, or sceptre, of a herald, a scroll on which is inscribed his greeting, an olive-branch, or a stalk of lilies.

“The lily probably was developed from a flower with a long stalk which was introduced during the Thirteenth Century appearing in glass-painting and miniatures and signifying springtime, ‘the time of flowers,’ when the Annunciation took place. Later, lilies were used to symbolize the purity of the Virgin and were placed in a jar, or vase, near her, or were carried by the Angel. In Spain the vase of lilies was almost essential to representations of the Annunciation and became the special and distinguishing attribute of the Virgin. The Spanish Order of the Lily of Aragon, established by Ferdinand of Castile in commemoration of a victory over the Moors in 1410, had for its badge ‘pots filled with white lilies interlaced with griffins, to which was pendent a medal having thereon an image of the Virgin Mary.’ In Italy, neither the vase of lilies nor the stalk was considered essential in representations of the Annunciation, although they are of frequent occurrence. Certain of the Florentine artists, notably Fra Filippo Lippi, represented both. Ghirlandaio, in his Annunciation at San Gimigniano, placed a vase beside the Virgin’s desk and combined other flowers—roses, daisies, and jasmine—with the lilies. The Angel bears the lily-stalk.

“It is interesting to note that while in the majority of Fourteenth- and Fifteenth-Century Annunciations the Archangel Gabriel was represented bearing a lily, the Sienese painters seldom used this flower, preferring the olive-branch, always a favorite symbol with them. In the Annunciation it referred to the Christ Child as the bringer of peace on earth. One interpretation of the avoidance of the use of the lily by Sienese artists is that it was due to the hatred of Siena for Florence, the lily being the flower of Florence.”—Mediæval and Renaissance Paintings (Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 1927).