Class Year
2018
Document Type
Student Research Paper
Date of Creation
Fall 2018
Department 1
Art
Abstract
When the Archangel Gabriel descended from heaven to inform the Virgin Mary of her status as God’s chosen vehicle for the birth of Jesus Christ, she was immediately filled with a sense of apprehension. Gabriel’s words, “...invenisti enim gratiam apud Deum [you have found favor with God],” reassured the Virgin that she would face no harm, and the scene of the Annunciation (what this moment has come to be called) has forever been immortalized in Christian belief as a watershed moment in the New Testament. While many Byzantine icons of the Medieval period sought to depict this snapshot in time and commemorate its importance, the most notable artistic examples of The Annunciation began to appear in the 15th century as the stylistic and symbolic traditions of the Renaissance began to take shape. While the works of artists such as Sandro Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci have come to generally be known as the touchstones of this early Renaissance period, the talents and contributions of northern masters must not be overlooked.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Condon, Christopher J., "SUB LEGE TO SUB GRATIA: An Iconographic Study of Van Eyck’s Annunciation" (2018). Student Publications. 646.
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/646
Included in
Ancient, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture Commons, Christianity Commons, Painting Commons
Comments
Research paper written for Art History 203: Northern Renaissance Art.