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The Annunciation to the Virgin, who kneels at a prie-dieu. Engraving by P. Pontius after C. Schut. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Bible. N.T. Luke 1.26-35. The Virgin reads a book placed on a prie-dieu. The cherubs on the right hold a garland next to Mary's head. Above, God holds his hand upon a shining orb with a cross
The attitudes and postures of the Virgin and the angel have varied significantly and even interchanged in Christian iconography. The plethora of differing images of the Annunciation provides a real insight into the history of emotion and its representation in gesture. The variations of the Virgin's posture provide much of the interest. Her hand is usually active; sometimes she is intently studying, sometimes she is in a gesture of almost carnal surprise. She may be glorified, or on the other hand she may kneel. Then the angel varies in relation to her: he might kneel before her. After the Council of Trent, the angel was set in the air, "reacting against", as Réau suggests, "the excessive 'familiarity' of religious art of the 15th century". On these issues, see L. Réau, 'Iconographie de l'art chrétien'. Presses Universitaires de France : Paris, 1957, vol. 2, book 2, pp. 178-187 (particularly p. 182)
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