The Annunciation

Jan van Eyck (c. 1390–1441) — c. 1434–1436 · Oil on panel · National Gallery of Art, Washington

“And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.” — Luke 1:38 (KJV)

About

Jan van Eyck's Annunciation (about 1434–1436) sets Gabriel and Mary inside a church, the words of their exchange written in gold — Gabriel's running forward, Mary's written upside-down and backward, readable only from above, by God. Seven rays through the window carry the dove onto her path.

The Meaning

The reversed lettering is one of art's great details: her surrender was not performed for the room. The church around her is the temple become a womb — the whole old covenant building pregnant with its fulfilment.

For Us Today

Speak to God as if He reads every word from above — because He does. And let your answers to Him be like Mary's lettering: aimed at heaven's eye more than at the approval of anyone standing near (Luke 1:38).

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