Mary
Festivals//Christmas//Angels
Date: 2010
Medium: Acrylic
For: St. Patrick's Church, Wallington
The Annunciation: It's a tradition in art for Gabriel to offer Mary a lily, a symbol of her purity. I have placed her in a walled garden (the 'Hortus Conclusus' of Song of Songs 4 v. 12 - "You are a garden enclosed, my sister, my spouse" - another reference to her purity) and have instead let the angel offer almond blossom. This is a reminder of Aaron's rod that budded and was kept ever after in the Ark of the Covenant. N.B. Nazareth means 'flower', but the Hebrew equals 'twig' and has connections with 'branch' in Isaiah 11 v. 1.