Ecce Ancilla Domini

Ecce Ancilla Domini

Artist	Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Year	1850
Medium	oil on canvas
Dimensions	73 cm × 41.9 cm (29 in × 16.5 in)
Location	Tate Britain, London

Ecce Ancilla Domini (Latin: "Behold the handmaiden of the Lord"), or The Annunciation, is an oil painting by the English artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, first painted in 1850 and now in Tate Britain in London. The Latin title is a quotation from the Vulgate text of the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke, describing the Annunciation,^[1] where Mary accepts the message brought to her by the Angel Gabriel that she would give birth to a child (Jesus) by God.

History

Rossetti deliberately used a limited colour range for this oil painting. The predominance of white, symbolic of virginity, is complemented by vibrant blue (a colour associated with Mary, though notably not used in his The Girlhood of Mary Virgin in 1849 and shown below) and red, for Christ's blood. Lilies are traditionally the symbol of Mary in Italian Renaissance art, but they are also considered funereal flowers, indicative of Christ's death.^[2]

Christina Rossetti posed for Mary but, as with her previous year's modelling, her brother altered her hair colour: in this instance making it auburn to continue the red palette. William Rossetti posed for Gabriel.

This painting received mixed reviews. The most obvious break with tradition was Rossetti's choice of placing Mary in bed - her long nightgown suggestive of a newly-wed bride - woken by the angel, who is normally depicted appearing as Mary prays. Also controversial were Gabriel's lack of wings (the flames at his feet suggest a Classical influence) and his obvious nakedness, glimpsed through the side of his robe. Note also the dove's halo, and the differences between Mary's and Gabriel's haloes, which may have arisen because Mary's was painted in 1850, whereas Gabriel's was not added until 1853.^[3]

The Girlhood of Mary Virgin by Rossetti (1849), Tate Britain.

The painting was first exhibited in April 1850 at the Old Portland Gallery on Regent Street. Francis McCracken, a well known Pre-Raphaelite patron, bought it in 1853 for £50 and the Tate Gallery purchased it in 1886. In February 2013 it was not on display.^[4][5]

See also

• List of paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
• Rossetti and His Circle by Max Beerbohm
• Rossetti-Polidori family tree

References

1. Luke 1:38: "dixit autem Maria ecce ancilla Domini fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum et discessit ab illa angelus"
2. V. Surtees. Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Vol.I, Oxford: Clarendon Press (1971).
3. J. Treuherz, E. Prettejohn, and E. Becker. Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: Thames & Hudson (2003).
4. Rossetti's Ecce Ancilla Domini, Smarthistory, accessed December 28, 2012.
5. Ecce Ancilla Domini! (The Annunciation) 1849-50, Tate Gallery, accessed February 3, 2012.

Further reading

• Surtees, Virginia. (1971) Dante Gabriel Rossetti. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
• Ash, Russell. (1995) Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: Pavilion Books ISBN 978-1-85793-412-0; New York: Abrams ISBN 978-1-85793-950-7.
• Doughty, Oswald (1949) A Victorian Romantic: Dante Gabriel Rossetti London: Frederick Muller
• Fredeman, William E. (Ed.) (2002-8) The correspondence of Dante Gabriel Rossetti. 7 Vols. Brewer, Cambridge.
• Hilto, Timoth (1970). The Pre-Raphelites. London: Thames and Hudson, New York: Abrams.
• Dinah Roe: The Rossettis in Wonderland. A Victorian Family History. Haus Publishing, London 2011, ISBN 978-1-907822-01-8.
• Rossetti, D. G. The House Of Life
• Treuherz, Julian, Prettejohn, Elizabeth, and Becker, Edwin (2003). Dante Gabriel Rossetti. London: Thames & Hudson, ISBN 0-500-09316-4.
• Todd, Pamela (2001). Pre-Raphaelites at Home, New York: Watson-Giptill Publications, ISBN 0-8230-4285-5.

External links

• The Rossetti Archive
• Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery's Pre-Raphaelite Online Resource
• Rossetti's Ecce Ancilla Domini, by Ben Pollitt at Smarthistory