The Annunciation to the Virgin. Engraving by C. Cort after Titian.

Bible. N.T. Luke 1.26-35. The attitudes and postures of the Virgin and the angel vary significantly in different represenations of the Annunciation. The Virgin's hand is usually active; sometimes she is intently studying, sometimes she is in a gesture of surprise. She may be glorified, or on the other hand she may kneel. Then the angel varies in relation to her: he might kneel before her. After the Council of Trent, the angel was set in the air, "reacting against the excessive 'familiarity' of religious art of the 15th century" (L. Réau, Iconographie de l'art chrétien, Presses Universitaires de France : Paris, 1957, vol. 2, book 2, pp. 178-187, particularly p. 182)

The angel Gabriel folds his arms; Mary lifts her veil

[Rome] : Ant. Lafrerÿ

1 print : line engraving with etching ; border 40.2 x 27.3 cm

Ignis ardens et non conburens. Cornelis Cort fe. The lettering 'ignis ardens et non conburens' is written underneath the vase containing the lilies

Wellcome Collection 21627i

After an altarpiece in the opposite direction by Titian in the church of San Salvador, Venice