Monday, July 18, 2016

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

Note God the Father appearing in the middle of this altarpiece!


From the notes for this work (Walters Museum of Art): This relief is from an altarpiece that probably depicted the life of Christ. The Archangel Gabriel appears to the Virgin carrying a scroll upon which his salutation: "Ave Maria gratia plena" ("Hail Mary, full of grace") probably appeared, as it does on the version below. God the Father holds an orb representing the universe and blesses the event. The vase of lilies, an allusion to the Virgin's purity, is often found in Annunciation scenes. The flamboyant sweep of Gabriel's immense wings, which encompasses the donor, a Franciscan monk*, and gently caressing the Virgin, is a feature shared with reliefs from a workshop that flourished from the 1390s to the 1440s in the neighboring towns of Joinville and Vignory in northeast France. Most of these reliefs were intended to be painted.
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*Eventually, the curators may learn that Franciscans are not monks but friars.

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About the Angelus Project

We rightly admire Muslim neighbors and co-workers who put everything on hold five times a day in answer to the "call to prayer." But Christians have a call to prayer, too! It is the Angelus. Morning, noon and evening we are invited to pause and reaffirm our faith in the Incarnation: The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (Jn. 1:14), because "God so loved the world that he sent his only Son" (Jn. 3:16).
The Angelus Project is a personal project of Sister Anne Flanagan, FSP, a Daughter of St Paul. Find out more about the media ministry of the Daughters of St Paul at DaughtersofStPaul.com.

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