The Virgin and the Holy Family

This is a brief selection of unusual images of the Virgin Mary or the Holy Family.

The Virgin Pregnant with Jesus:

• Piero della Francesca, Madonna del Parto (1467), Cappella del Cimitero, Monterchi, Italy, near Arezzo

Flight into Egypt:

• Gislebertus, Flight into Egypt (1120-30), sculpture for Autun Cathedral

Madonna as Advocate (Haghiosoritissa):

• Unknown Italian painter, The Madonna as Advocate (1150s), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
  
• Simone Martini, Madonna of Mercy (1308-10), Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
  
• Lippo Memmi, Madonna of the Recommended (1350s), fresco in the Chapel of the Corporal, Duomo, Orvieto
  
• Caravaggio, Madonna di Loreto (Madonna dei Pellegrini, 1603-05), S. Agostino, Rome

Madonna Nursing or with Young Child:

• Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Suckling Madonna (c. 1330), Palazzo Arcivescovile, Siena
  
• Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Madonna and Child (1340-45), Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan
  
• Nino Pisano, Madonna del Latte (1360s), marble sculpture, S. Maria della Spina, Pisa
  
• Nursing Madonna in Très Belles Heures of the Duc the Berry (1380-90), illumination, Bibliothèque Royale Albert 1er, Brussels
  
• Nursing Madonna, Très Belles Heures du Duc de Berry (c. 1380), illumination, Museo Civico d'Arte Antica, Palazzo Madama, Turin
  
• Jacopo Sansovino, Madonna del Parto (1518), marble sculpture, S. Agostino, Rome (second image
  
• Giovanni di Agostino, Madonna with two Angels (1500s), San Bernardino, Siena
  
• Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Mary and Child with Angels Playing Music (1675), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

Reclining Madonna:

• Arnolfo di Cambio, Madonna (1296-1302), marble sculpture meant to be a part of a Nativity group, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence

See also The Cult of the Virgin Mary in the Middle Ages (from the Metropolitan Museum, New York) and Rare Portraits of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary in the Golden Legend:

• The Purification of Our Lady (vol. 4, February 2)
  
• The Annunciation of Our Lady (vol. 4, March 25)
  
• The Assumption of Our Lady (vol. 4, August 15)
  
• The Nativity of Our Lady (vol. 5, September 8)
  
• The Immaculate Conception of Our Lady (vol. 2, December 8)

Test Review

Our first exam will be on Monday, September 25. Please be familiar with the following:

Terms:
Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend, Jacobus de Voragine)
icon
iconography
hagiography
Alban Butler (Lives of the Saints)
Feast Days (Beheading of John the Baptist, Nativity of Mary, Immaculate Conception, Annunciation)

Texts:
Gospel accounts of the Annunciation (especially Luke)
Gospel accounts of John the Baptist (especially the beheading)
Golden legend, Nativity of Mary

Paintings/Painters:
Byzantine icons
Giotto, Life of Mary, Arena Chapel
El Greco
*Caravaggio

There will be an essay asking you to compare and contrast the religious aims of two different depictions of the same sacred scene. How do the artists use artistic techniques to impart different messages about saintly heroism?

The Annunciation in Byzantine Icons

• Annunciation from Ustyug (Novgorod School, 12th century)
  
• The Annunciation, from the cycle of the Twelve Feasts (Dodecaorton), Monastery of Saint Catherine's (Sinai, Egypt), 12th century
  
• Annunciation (Russian icon)
  
• Annunciation (Russian icon, mid-15th c.)
  
• Annuciation (Greek icon)
  
• Annunciation to the Theotokos (Greek icon)
  
• Annunciation with Handmaiden (Russian icon)
  
• Annunciation (Russian icon, 14th c.)

Annunciation Scenes

• Anonymous, Book of Prayers of St Elisabeth of Hungary (c. 1220), illumination on parchment, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Cividale
  
• Anonymous, The Annunciation (c. 1225), stone, Amiens Cathedral
  
• Pietro Cavallini, Annunciation (1291), mosaic in Santa Maria in Trastevere, Rome
  
• Giotto di Bondone, God Sends Gabriel to the Virgin (1306), fresco in the Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua
  
• Duccio di Buoninsegna, Annunciation (from the Maestà Altarpiece, 1308-11), National Gallery, London
  
• Lippo Memmi, The Annunciation and Two Saints (1333), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Giovanni da Balduccio, Annunciation (before 1334), marble, Santa Maria del Prato, San Casciano Val di Pesa
  
• Barna da Siena, The Annunciation (c. 1340), fresco in the collegiate church, San Gimignano
  
• Ambrogio Lorenzetti, Annunciation (1344), Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
  
• Lorenzo Veneziano, Annunciation (1371), Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice
  
• Melchior Broederlam, The Annunciation (1393-99), Musée des Beaux-Arts, Dijon
  
• Master of Heiligenkreuz, Annunciation (c. 1410), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
  
• Master of Flémalle, Annunciation from the Mérode Altarpiece (1420s), Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
  
• Masolino da Panicale, The Annunciation (1425-30), National Gallery of Art, Washington
  
• Donatello, Annunciation (1430), sandstone, Santa Croce, Florence
  
• Fra Angelico, The Annunciation (1430-32), Museo del Prado, Madrid
  
• Jan van Eyck, The Ghent Altarpiece (wings closed) (1432), oil on wood, Cathedral of St Bavo, Ghent
  
• Fra Angelico, Annunciation (1433-34), Museo Diocesano, Cortona
  
• Jan van Eyck, The Annunciation (c. 1435), oil, transferred from wood to canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington
  
• Donatello, Annunciation (c. 1435), gilded pietra serena, Santa Croce, Florence
  
• Fra Angelico, The Annunciation (late 1430s), fresco in the Convento di San Marco, Florence
  
• Fra Angelico, The Annunciation (1440-41), fresco in the Convento di San Marco, Florence
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, The Annunciation with two Kneeling Donors (c. 1440), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica, Rome
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, The Annuciation (c. 1440), Frick Collection
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation (c. 1443), Alte Pinakothek, Munich
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation (c. 1445), San Lorenzo, Florence
  
• Dieric Bouts the Elder, The Annunciation (c. 1445), oil on wood, Museo del Prado, Madrid
  
• Domenico Veneziano, Annunciation (predella 3) (c. 1445), Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
  
• Alessio Baldovinetti, Annunciation (1447), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation (1445-50), Galleria Doria-Pamphili, Rome
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, The Annunciation (1448-50), National Gallery, London
  
• Juan de Burgos, Annunciation (c. 1450), Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge
  
• Pedro Berruguete, Annunciation (c. 1450), panel in the Monastery of Miraflores, Burgos
  
• Fra Angelico, Annunciation (from the paintings for the Armadio degli Argenti, 1450), Museo di San Marco, Florence
  
• Petrus Christus, Annunciation (1452), wood panel, Groeninge Museum, Bruges
  
• Benedetto Bonfigli, Annunciation (1455-60), Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria, Perugia
  
• Francesco Antonio del Cherico, Prayer Book of Lorenzo de' Medici (1458), manuscript page, Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence
  
• Fra Filippo Lippi, Annunciation (1467-69), fresco in the Duomo, Spoleto
  
• Master of Liesborn, The Annunciation (probably 1470-80), National Gallery of Art, London
  
• Francesco di Giorgio Martini, Annunciation (1470-72), Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena
  
• Leonardo da Vinci, Annunciation (1472-75), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Pedro de Cordoba, Annunciation (1475), Cathedral, Cordoba
  
• Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Triptych (closed) (1476-79), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Sandro Botticelli, Annunciation (1481), fresco, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Antoniazzo Romano, Annunciation (1485), wood panel in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
  
• Sandro Botticelli, The Annunciation (c. 1485), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  
• Hans Memling, The Annunciation (c. 1489), Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  
• Belbello da Pavia, Annunciation to the Virgin (manuscript page, 1450/1460), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  
• Fra Carnevale, The Annunciation (c. 1448), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  
• Domenico Ghirlandaio, Annunciation (1486-90), fresco in the Cappella Tornabuoni, Santa Maria Novella, Florence
  
• Carlo Crivelli, Annunciation with St. Emidius (1486), National Gallery of Art, London
  
• Filippino Lippi, Annunciation (1489-91), fresco in S. Maria sopra Minerva, Rome
  
• Domenico Ghirlandaio, Annunciation (1489-90), mosaic near the Porta della Mandorla, Duomo, Florence
  
• Benedetto da Maiano, Altarpiece of the Annunciation (before 1489), marble, Mastrogiudici Chapel, S. Anna dei Lombardi, Naples
  
• Sandro Botticelli, Cestello Annunciation (1489-90), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Sandro Botticelli, Annunciation (1490-92), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Cima da Conegliano, The Annunciation (1495), The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
  
• Rueland Frueauf the Elder, The Annunciation (c. 1495), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
  
• Master of Moulins, The Annunciation (1500), Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
  
• Albrecht D¨rer, Life of the Virgin, 7. The Annunciation (1500-02), woodcut, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna
  
• Mariotto Albertinelli, Annunciation (1503), Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
  
• Juan de Flandes, The Annunciation (c. 1508/1519), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  
• Albrecht Dürer, Small Passion: 3. The Annunciation (1511), woodcut, British Museum, London
  
• Giannicola di Paolo, The Annunciation (1510/1515), National Gallery of Art, Washington
  
• Matthias Grünewald, The Annunciation (from the Isenheim Altarpiece, c. 1515), Musée d'Unterlinden, Colmar
  
• Jean Bellegambe, Annunciation (1516-17), The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
  
• Joos van Cleve, The Annunciation (c. 1525), Metropolitan Museum of Art
  
• Albrecht Dürer, Annunciation (1526), pen drawing, Musée Condé, Chantilly
  
• Lorenzo Lotto, Annunciation (c. 1527), Pinacoteca Comunale, Recanati
  
• Andrea del Sarto, Annunciation (1528), Galleria Palatina (Palazzo Pitti), Florence
  
• Francesco Albani, The Annunciation (c. 1530), The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
  
• Federico Fiori Barocci, Annunciation (1592-96), oil on canvas, Santa Maria degli Angeli, Perugia
  
• Domenico Beccafumi, The Annunciation (c. 1545), oil on wood, SS. Martino and Vittorio, Sarteano (Siena)
  
• Michelangelo Buonarroti, Study for an Annunciation (1547), British Museum, London
  
• El Greco, The Annunciation (1569-70), Museo del Prado, Madrid
  
• Veronese, The Annunciation (c. 1580), National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
  
• El Greco, Annunciation (1595-1600), Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
  
• El Greco, The Annunciation (1603-05), Hospital de la Caridad, Illescas
  
• Caravaggio, The Annunciation (1608-09), oil on canvas, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Nancy
  
• Orazio Gentileschi, Annunciation (c. 1623), oil on canvas, Galleria Sabauda, Turin
  
• Philippe de Champaigne, Annunciation (c. 1644), oil on canvas, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
  
• Philippe de Champaigne, The Annunciation (c. 1645), oil on canvas, Wallace Collection, London
  
• Nicolas Poussin, The Annunciation (1657), National Gallery of Art, London
  
• Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Annunciation (late 1660s), The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
  
• Bernardino Cametti, Annunciation (1729), marble (height c. 500 cm), La Superga, Turin
  
• François Boucher, The Annunciation (chalk drawing, about 1749), Worcester Art Museum
  
• Franz Ignaz Günther, The Annunciation (1763), Parish church, Weyarn
  
• Francisco Goya y Lucientes, The Annunciation (about 1785), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ecce Ancilla Domini! (The Annunciation) (1849-50)
  
• Edward Burne-Jones, The Annunciation (1876-79), Lady Lever Art Gallery, Liverpool
  
• Nesterov, The Annunciation (1897), Mauve Room, Alexander Palace
  
• John William Waterhouse, The Annunciation (1914)
  
• René Magritte, L'Annonciation (1930)
  
• Salvador Dalí, Annunciation (1947)
  
• Melozzo da Forli, Annunciation (date unknown), fresco in the Pantheon, Rome

This list cannot possibly be complete and exhaustive. See also the full list of Images of the Annunciation from The Text This Week.

The Annunciation in the Gospels

At the Annunciation, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary with the news that she would conceive God's son. It is mentioned, briefly and without any real detail, in the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (Latin Vulgate and Douay-Rheims literal translation). The familiar version of the story as we know it is found, as with the Nativity narrative, only in the Gospel of Luke's first chapter (Latin Vulgate). Here is how it reads in the Douay Rheims translation:

26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David: and the virgin's name was Mary.

28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.

31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

32 He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.

33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man?

35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren.

37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.

38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Images of Annunciation scenes follow.

John the Baptist

Caravaggio, Beheading of John the Baptist, 1607-08, Pro-Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, La Valletta, Malta

Read the story of John the Baptist in the Gospels, in the Douay-Rheims literal translation of the Vulgate:

• Matthew 3
  
• Mark 1
  
• Mark 6: 16-30 (the only account of the beheading)
  
• Luke 3
  
• John 1

John the Baptist in the Golden Legend:

• The Nativity of S. John the Baptist (vol. 3, June 24)
  
• Decollation of S. John the Baptist (vol. 5, August 29)

Images of John the Baptist:

• Tiepolo, Beheading of John the Baptist (fresco, 1732-33, Cappella Colleoni, Bergamo)
  
• Sano di Pietro, Beheading of John the Baptist (15th century, Pushkin Museum, Moscow)
  
• Beheading of John the Baptist (silver, c. 1480, Florence Baptistry)
  
• Albrecht Dürer, Beheading of John the Baptist (woodcut, 1510, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford)
  
• Hieronymous Bosch, John the Baptist in the Wilderness