Gabriel and the Virgin II

Abstract

In a previous paper in the European Review one of us discussed the positioning of the Archangel Gabriel in Annunciation pictures from the point of view of his chirality.1 By means of a very extensive database it was shown that the Angel is mostly represented as dextral, which favours his position on the left of the picture. We have now extended and improved this database. In the previous work we were able to discuss chirality in only a fraction of the over 1000 examples treated, because in many of them the Angel has his arms crossed on his chest. We observed that dextrals normally do this with the right arm over the left one. In 1073 examples from the third century (henceforth C3) to 1750 we found only 99 sinistrals. The period from C3to 1400 is very important, being more stable, so that the pictorial traditions of the Annunciation were established during it and it shows only two sinistrals over 100 examples. There are several hypotheses about the positioning of the Angel and Virgin in the pictures which were not discussed in the previous paper and which will now be treated in the light of our results. It is clear that there are two different strands: until 1400 the weight of tradition prevails, but after this period fashion becomes more significant, with great painters such as Titian creating a large number of imitators. After 1400, composition becomes freer and more complex and artists become more interested in the pictorial impact of their work than the iconographic impact. The new freedom enjoyed by the artists means nevertheless that some purely pictorial conventions acquire greater weight; they appear to rule the composition and are discussed in detail in this article.