Bible in art · Luke

The Annunciation

Dürer · c. 1503–5
The Cleveland Museum of Art

Dürer made the woodcuts of the Life of the Virgin in Nuremberg around 1501–05 and sold them as single sheets; in 1511 he published the series as a book.

The angel Gabriel strides into Mary’s room, his great wings filling the space, and speaks to her as she turns from her reading desk. Dürer frames the small scene with a huge stone arch and vaults, carefully drawn in perspective.

From the text

God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary in Nazareth (Luke 1:26–27)
“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28)

The artist’s own

A dove above Mary — painters’ usual sign for the Holy Spirit, of whom the angel speaks (Luke 1:35)
A vase of lilies, which painters often placed beside Mary as a sign of purity
A room of Dürer’s time with a curtained bed and a staircase

Details

Gabriel

The angel, wings spread, points towards Mary.

Mary

Mary lifts a hand to her breast at her desk with an open book.

The dove

A dove in a burst of light hovers over her.

Lilies

A small vase of lilies stands on the floor.

Albrecht Dürer, German, 1471–1528. The Cleveland Museum of Art (Dudley P. Allen Fund, 1959.99.8) · Woodcut · Cleveland Museum of Art Open Access: Collection API record "share_license_status": "CC0" (Creative Commons Zero, https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/).

The verses

Luke 1:26–38In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. So the angel told her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!” “How can this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Look, even Elizabeth your relative has conceived a son in her old age, and she who was called barren is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.” “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it happen to me according to your word.” Then the angel left her.

See it at the museum’s site