Wednesday, June 11, 2008

God and Woman: The Annunciation

Correggio, c 1522-25 (drawing for fresco now faded)
Titian, c 1555-62

1 comment:

AG said...

Why did I post these? Marina Warner, in her book "Alone of All Her Sex," briefly describes Correggio's "Danae" and concludes that it is a practically heretical version of the Annunciation - a (gendered male) angel pulls back the sheet to reveal a naked women over whom a cloud hovers. Because this is also the time period when the interpretation of the ancient myths of god with a mortal woman as foreshadowings of the Incarnation were particularly strong, I thought it was interesting to compare and contrast the images of two Renaissance artists' takes on Zeus and his paramours with their versions of the Annunciation.

Additionally, this is also the time period when the image of sacred love and nature as nude females is particularly strong. The manner in which the Virgin is portrayed is therefore all the most interesting and may indicate a growing dichotomy between nature (and ultimately science) and religion.