Annunciation

 March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary, as described in St. Luke's gospel. It has always been a favourite subject with artists.

   There are certain conventions for the picture. It takes place in a cloister or loggia. Mary, wearing her traditional colours of blue, is often shown reading a book, which will be open at the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin will conceive". The archangel usually enters from the left; I don't know why. The picture often contains a lily, to symbolise Mary's purity, and a single shaft of light or a dove, to indicate the Holy Spirit.

   Many of these conventions are shown in this charming miniature by the Limbourg brothers.

The Bible gives us no information as to what time of year Jesus was born, but it seems right that the sacred God-child should be born at the winter sostice, in which case he would have been conceived at the spring equinox: hence this feast-day.