Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

On this Christmas Day, a glorious Annunciation by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi. The saints on the side panels are Saint Margaret and Saint Ansanus, for whose altar in the Siena Cathedral the piece had been commissioned. Completed in 1333, it is recognized as one of the medieval era's greatest masterpieces. Read more about it on the website of the Uffizi Gallery (Florence) where it is housed.

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

In this image by Antoniazzo Romano, the influential Cardinal Juan de Torquemada (not to be confused with Inquisitor-nephew Tomás) kneels close by Gabriel, introducing three maidens whose dowries he had sponsored. The size of the Cardinal and girls relative to Gabriel and Mary, and not simply their kneeling position, indicates their humble status when compared to the company they are in.

Praying the Angelus with Art: This Week's Image

This week's Annunciation is another one that appears surrounded by smaller images telling the story of Mary's parents, Joachim and Anne, who likewise had their "annunciations" of the unexpected birth of an extraordinary child. The page is from a French Book of Hours c. 1430, and is in the collection of The Morgan Library and Museum.