Dante Gabriel Rossetti | Ecce Ancilla Domini (Annunciation) | 1850

The two figures are both in white robes, have the same hair color, and both don halos. The difference is with their two separate poses. Each position of the character is conducive with the development of the story. Mary is on a bed, leaning up from a horizontal position. The angel Gabriel is vertical. The messenger and the receiver. These two separate positions of the body are actually more conducive with the story than with the traditional picture of Mary kneeling in prayer. As prayer is an action and thus not as receptive as a sleeping or a nearly sleeping figure. The opposing angles of Mary's torso and head express that she was initially frightened by the visitation and reared back atop her bed. In comparison to Mary kneeling in prayer, this adds a raw vulnerability and thus an emotional intimacy to the Virgin Mary. The tapestry of the lily on red in the foreground implies the work Mary was doing in her bedroom before the visitation of the angel Gabriel. The color red is an expression of passion and desire. The depiction that she was working on a two dimensional illustration of lilies before Gabriel visits holding actual lilies is a wonderfully rich and dynamic way of showing that Mary was indeed praying before the visitation. Another note being that lilies are a spring blooming plant and considering Easter is also in the spring may denote a full circle type expression with the story of Christ in relation to Easter and with this scene of Mary. With the yellow halos and the red tapestry in the foreground, the blue sheet in the background make the three primary colors, all high in saturation and essentially the only colors amid the shades of white. The blue sheet not only expresses the life giving water of Christ but also creates a visual barrier, making the lamp affixed to the wall behind the sheet symbolic of the conception. By comparing other paintings that depict the Annunciation, we can gain a holistic understanding of this particular painting by Rossetti. The angel Gabriel is depicted without the usual representation of wings but instead shows his divinity with feet and flames and by adding the flames and the reflection on the floor we can see Gabriel is elevated. This seems to be the only sign of divinity as Gabriel's nakedness can be seen slightly from the open side of his robe, something that could be and was viewed by some as sacrilege. Poor reception to this painting caused Rossetti's masterpiece to be sold for a mere £50, further adding beauty to this work as Mary gave birth in the humble settings of a manger. Rossetti was entranced with the idea of the divine intermixed with human through the medium of arts. He contributed a poem on the matter to the independent publication by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, The Germ.