medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Several theologians, not the least of whom were Augustine and Ambrose,
described at great length the similarities between Christ and John,
beginning with their miraculous births, but also including their
ministries and deaths. The direct comparison of the Annunciation to
Zacharias with the Annunciation to Mary can be found in such works of art
as the Florence Baptistery mosaics and a bone altarpiece by the Embriachi
workshop at the Metropolitan Museum or Art. By assimilating one
Annunciation to the other, artists were able to clarify that John was
Christ's precursor from the very beginning of his life to the very end --
he was, really, the first _alter Christus_.
Torie Reed
On Thu, 24 May 2001, Ms B.M. Cook wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> . A book on illuminated
> > mss. has the annunciation to Zachary misidentified as
> > the annunciation to Mary, so similar in detail are the
> > two.
>
> This is also true of a wall painting in St Albans Abbey (Hertfordshire,
> England). There is an Annunciation which an art historian (whom I will not
> name!) describes as a Marian annunciation but which even to my untrained eye
> is clearly an annunciation to a man and has been identified by other
> historians as the angel and Zacharias. The pose of the one receiveing the
> good news is exultant and not humble, and he is clearly wearing a split
> sided gown which is masculine garb and it is just possible to identify a
> beard and a flat chest....
>
> Need hardly say that the painting is badly deteriorated.
>
> Brenda M. C.
>
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