The Annunciation

Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) — c. 1472–1476 · Oil and tempera on panel · Uffizi Gallery, Florence

“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.” — Luke 1:31 (KJV)

About

Leonardo's early Annunciation (about 1472–1476, Uffizi) sets the scene in a walled garden before a Florentine villa: Gabriel kneels with lilies, his great wings modelled on a bird's, and Mary sits at a marble reading desk, one finger calmly keeping her place in the book.

The Meaning

The young Leonardo made the miracle botanical and physical: real wings, real marble, real light. The doctrine it carries is that the Word became flesh in an actual place — God does not deal in abstractions; He comes to a girl at a desk.

For Us Today

Keep your finger in the Book when heaven speaks. Mary's composure is a reader's composure — deep in the Scripture when the call came. Meet your own interruptions with her verse open in front of you.

Image: Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons — the file’s page. Tap the picture to open the full-size original there.