Left; The Annunciation by Master of the Judgement of Paris (active 1400-1450) in the Courtauld Gallery.
Right; The Annunciation, XVIII century, in the Montefalco Museum, Umbria.
The Annunciation, where the angel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary that she will conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit, is an instantly recognisable and compelling scene. In the best versions of it there is drama in the meeting between the two figures which takes place in an interesting room or a beautiful garden. Often the figures are framed by pillars between the two of them, as in the lovely Annunciation in The Courtauld Gallery (above left) painted in the fifteenth century. A version I like even more is a less sophisticated one that I photographed in the art gallery of a small town in Umbria (above right). Here there are rays of light in three different places and an uninterrupted space between the figures in the centre of the picture.
The other versions here are all in stained glass. I’m not showing every one in my collection of annunciation photos but rather a selection in chronological order of the best I’ve seen so far.
Left: reassembled old glass (possibly early XVI century) in St Thomas Church, East Shefford, Berkshire.
Right; above the north aisle east window in All Saints Church, Middleton Cheney, Northants by William Morris, 1880.
The first (above left) consists of reassembled fragments on a background of white quarries where the angel Gabriel is missing and the rays of light with the dove from the Holy Spirit seem to be sending their message straight to Mary’s listening ear. The second (above right) was designed by William Morris and is one of several copies of this same design. There is no dove or ray of light, but there are the lilies to symbolise purity and the book in Mary’s hand. The setting is a luscious garden, which makes this version, set high up in the wall, the most beautiful one.
Two versions from 1945 (below) share many similarities , despite a great difference in scale. Like in the Morris window there are Gabriel’s red wings and Mary’s posture with one hand raised. The figures stand on a scroll, and above is that dead straight beam, or beams, of light in silver stain with leaded edges. This seems to me such a heavy-handed way of representing light in a medium which is all about the transmission of light.
Left; St Mary Church, Fordington, Dorchester, by Powell & Sons 1945.
Right; St Frideswide Church, Frilsham, Berkshire, by Joseph E. Nuttgens 1945.
St Mary Church, Twyford, Hampshire. Nativity west window with detail from The Annunciation by Moira Forsyth, 1965.
A version by Moira Forsyth from the 1960s (above) is part of a large west window. Here, the beam of light is not so bad as it’s actually lighter than the blue background, with more fluid lines than those in her characteristic crosshatching that covers practically every other piece of glass. The figures have no architectural or horticultural background, they are part of a larger story in the setting of the nativity window but the connection between the angel Gabriel and Mary isn’t really there.
In the 1980s John Hayward version (below) they are also separated by the window mullion, but the figures seem drawn together by all the other elements in the composition. This scene is predominantly gold rather than blue, the drapery, wings and hands are again finely painted. This one contains almost all the elements usually found in a picture of The Annunciation - dove, beam of light, book and blue gown - but no lily. The only constant I’ve found in all the versions is the order of the figures, the angel on the left and Mary on the right.
Christ Church, Swindon, Wiltshire. Annunciation window by John Hayward 1987 and detail.