Here, the angel Gabriel is telling the Virgin Mary that she will give birth to Jesus Christ. Dante Gabriel Rossetti portrays his sister, the poet Christina Rossetti, as Mary. Both siblings were exploring personal perspectives in their work, engaging with intimate emotions and rejecting more detached approaches. In this painting, the artist adapts medieval depictions of the Annunciation to this more modern, psychological view. Unusually, we see Mary in her bedroom where the angel has disturbed her dreams. Anxiety is suggested by the eerie colouring, her wide eyes and shrinking pose.
Gallery label, January 2025
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"map_spaces": [], "mltArtists": "461", "mltMedia": "painting oil paint canvas", "mltMovements": "363", "mltPlaces": "7011781 7008136 7002445 7008591 7008153", "mltSubjects": "92 5733 62 1448 1449 736 732 134 6758 726 41 265 5380 163 31 2815 17 80 1326 1503 82 5738 85 456 20117 20118 4990 1228 195 70 72 20114 8730 8058 165 1190 771 5731 254 5383", "mltTitle": "Ecce Ancilla Domini Annunciation", "mltYear": 1849, "mltYears": "", "onDisplayAtTate": true, "onlinePubDate": "1970-01-01 00:00:00.0", "popularity": 1, "resources": [ { "type": "SHORT_TEXT", "slug_name": "summary", "display_name": "Summary", "content": "Inspired by the work of early Renaissance artists such as Botticelli (1445-1510) and Fra Angelico (1387-1455), Rossetti sought in this work a radical reinterpretation of the Annunciation. Traditionally the Virgin was depicted in studious contemplation, reading a missal at a prie-dieu; but here Rossetti shows her rising awkwardly from a low bed, as if disturbed from sleep, while the Angel Gabriel presents her with a white lily. Both figures are dressed in white, a symbol of the virgin's purity, and the angel's role as the messenger of god is emphasised by the small white dove hovering beside him, signifying the presence of the holy spirit. Rossetti used several sitters for his figures, including his brother, William Michael, for the Angel and his sister, Christina, for the Virgin.
\nA companion piece showing the Virgin's death was planned, but never begun. This partly explains the tall narrow shape of the picture, which was intended as part of a diptych. Rossetti intentionally restricted his palette almost entirely to white and the three primaries. The colour blue, symbolic of heaven, is traditionally associated with the Virgin and red symbolises the blood of Christ. Rossetti even sought a red-haired model for the Virgin's head. The composition is carefully thought out: the vertical division of space, made by the blue hanging and the edge of the bed, falls almost on the Golden Section. The dove and the lily, with one bud still to break, move across this division and are the instruments of conception. Rossetti has written the date, 'March', at the bottom of the canvas, perhaps to signify the month in which the Feast of the Annunciation is held. The original frame was also inscribed with Latin mottoes, copied from a brass rubbing owned by a fellow member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, F.G. Stephens (1828-1907).
\nThe picture was exhibited at the National Institution in 1850 and heavily criticised, partly for its didacticism. The critic for the Athenaeum wrote that it was 'a work evidently thrust by the artist into the eye of the spectator more with the presumption of a teacher than in the modesty of a hopeful and true aspiration after excellence.' (20 April 1850, p.424) Rossetti vowed never to exhibit in public again, but he continued to work on his picture until 1853, when it was sold to Francis McCracken of Belfast, an early patron of the Pre-Raphaelites, for £50.
\n\nFurther reading\n
Leslie Parris (ed.), The Pre-Raphaelites, London 1984, reprinted 1994, pp.72-3; reproduced p.72, in colour.
Elizabeth Prettejohn, The Art of the Pre-Raphaelites, London 2000, pp.50-1, reproduced p.50, in colour.
Virginia Surtees, The Paintings and Drawings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) - A Catalogue Raisonné, 2 vols., Oxford 1971, pp.12-13, no.44, reproduced pl.29.
Frances Fowle
December 2000
Here, the angel Gabriel is telling the Virgin Mary that she will give birth to Jesus Christ. Dante Gabriel Rossetti portrays his sister, the poet Christina Rossetti, as Mary. Both siblings were exploring personal perspectives in their work, engaging with intimate emotions and rejecting more detached approaches. In this painting, the artist adapts medieval depictions of the Annunciation to this more modern, psychological view. Unusually, we see Mary in her bedroom where the angel has disturbed her dreams. Anxiety is suggested by the eerie colouring, her wide eyes and shrinking pose.