The Annunciation (1876 -79)
by Edward Burne-Jones
I have been looking for famous paintings of the Archangel Gabriel. This is my favorite. I'm attracted to it because Gabriel's garment and wings look as though they are made of liquid gold, and if not gold, some unearthly precious metal. Immensely strong and protective like armour and at the same time, soft, lustrous and pliable. Although we are told that angels have no gender, all depictions of Gabriel that I was able to find appear feminine to me. I'm surprised that, unlike the angel, Mary has no visible halo. I like her simple dress and her bare feet. Her body looks relaxed, not shocked and rigid as you might expect, considering a strange being had entered the room. Her gaze is stunning. Above her head and to the right a relief shows two people being kicked out of Paradise, they seem to be cowering and grief-stricken as an Angel escorts them out.
Why did I go searching for a painting of Saint Gabriel? Since the 6th of July someone has been "camped out" on my blog. This someone gets their internet signal from the nearby town of Norwood. The Catholic parish that serves Norwood is Saint Gabriel. I will give "Norwood" the benefit of the doubt, the doubt being that you, Norwood, opened my blog page on Saturday the 6th of July and never closed it, leaving it idle but open at the bottom of your computer screen, oblivious to the fact that I've been aware of your constant presence throughout these five days and that my awareness of your presence might be causing me concern. So, the intention of this blog post is to ask Norwood, politely but firmly, if you are here purposely and with malintent:
"Please exit my blog."
"Mary has no visible halo." It's interesting that you chose the word 'visible.' There may not be a literal halo, but all those circular arches above suggest something halo-like, and that back arch, offset from the others to the right, seems deliberately placed to encompass her head in an incomplete circle. I would also note that the brickwork on that receding wall in the center of the composition is rendered with extreme perspective and seems to suggest rays of light emanating from Mary.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing all of your very astute observations with me. Yes, I can see now, all of the subtle but deliberate architectural suggestions of halo and light surrounding and emanating from the being of Mary. She's even standing in a puddle of light. Just goes to show, there's a lot more to being a saint than wearing a visible halo.
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