Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

 The Angelus Project has featured two other Annunciations by the devout Catholic Maurice Denis (1870-1943). Learn more about Denis and his contribution to sacred art at TheArtStory.

Annunciation, Maurice Denis (1913)
Musee des Beaux-Arts

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

Who was the bride in 16th century Catalonia who put her fine linens into this walnut chest? Did she choose the image of the Annunciation, or was it the giver's idea? Who made the original commission? The image raises so many questions! And only one answer has come to us: there was a woman in Spain who had this lovely image to inspire her life every time she opened the lid on what, without that art, might have been just another piece of furniture. What would she say "yes" to that day?

Bride's chest with Annunciation
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

Detail from Book of Hours

A medieval Book of Hours was an all-purpose devotional: it featured morning and evening prayers, psalms, and popular devotions that were deeply rooted in biblical piety. One of those devotions was the "Hours of the Cross," a way of matching the times of the day with the events of Good Friday. Today's Annunciation comes from the pages of an early 14th century Book of Hours prepared in England for a French user with a Dominican spirituality. Christ's "Hours" (we would call them "stations" of the Cross) are matched with events in Mary's life, according to the time of day they were thought to have happened: the scourging of the pillar with Pentecost (9:00 a.m.); the nailing to the cross with the Annunciation (close to noon, though I don't know of any tradition indicating the time of day of the Annunciation!).

This manuscript is in the collection of the Huntington Library. I thought it fitting to coincide with this week's Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14) and memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows September 15).

Here is the image in its two-page context:

Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery
Manuscript EL 9 H 17

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

 I heard the 20th century calling out plaintively, "I have some Annunciations to offer, too!" And it true: look at this lovely porcelain vase from the very first years of the 20th century. It was a collaborative effort by Barcelona artists Antoni Serra (1869-1932), a noted ceramic artist, and Josep Pey (1875-1956).

Art Nouveau Annunciation in porcelain