John Mcewen comments on The Cestello Annunciation

This picture’s drama is conveyed, but cannot be understood unless one knows what the Annunciation is. Nothing less than the birth of Christianity, the Annunciation is when the angel announces to the unmarried and virginal Mary— in her words, a ‘handmaiden’ of ‘low estate’ from the ‘city’ of Nazareth— that she had been divinely ordained to be the mother of Jesus, son of God.

The fullest account of this truly awesome moment is in Luke 1: 26–56, the account Botticelli illustrates, as the inscription from the Gospel on the frame of his picture shows: ‘The holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most high shall overshadow thee’ and Mary’s reply: ‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to thy word.’

The angel’s salutation forms the first words of the hail Mary prayer known to all Catholics: ‘hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou amongst women.’ Little wonder Mary was frightened at first: ‘And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.’

in the picture, daily life proceeds unaware of the earth-shattering event. The new influence of Netherlandish painting on italian artists is undeniable, with the turreted schloss and green and watery northern landscape.

The importance of the Annunciation is perhaps under-acknowledged, because its feast day is March 25, which falls either in Lent or at Easter.