Sandro Botticelli, The Annunciation

Circa 1485
Tempera on panel, 7½ x 12⅓ in. (19.1 x 31.4 cm)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975.1.74

The artists follow the custom of placing an architectural separation between the angel and the Virgin Mary. In this case, it is the wall separating the vestibule of a building from an inner room. That the building is a home is signified by the furniture piece behind Mary, with various domestic objects placed atop it.

The lilies that one usually sees in a vase are instead on the end of the angel's scepter, relating them symbolically to the light rays that signify the action of the Holy Spirit. Usually the scepter has just a simple finial at the top, although there is a painting from the previous century in which the angel holds a flowering branch.

The object directly in front of Mary appears to be a bookstand with a book, but some sort of lacy fabric hangs from it.

Read more about images of the Annunciation.

Photo: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City