Annunciation

Many Christians observe this event with the Feast of the Annunciation on 25 March,[2] an approximation of the northern vernal equinox nine full months before Christmas, the traditional birthday of Jesus.

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

And the angel departed from her.Various Bible translations also give Gabriel's salutation as a variation on: "Hail, full of grace" (Luke 1:28, DRV).

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.There is a different version contained in the apocryphal Gospel of James, which includes a first appearance of the archangel at the well.

Both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches hold that the Annunciation took place at Nazareth, but differ slightly as to the precise location.

[5] When the calendar system of Anno Domini was first introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in AD 525, he assigned the beginning of the new year to 25 March since, according to Christian theology, the era of grace began with the Incarnation of Christ.

As the action initiating the Incarnation of Christ, the Annunciation has such an important place in Orthodox Christian theology that the festal Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is always celebrated on the feast, even if it falls on Great and Holy Friday, the day when the crucifixion of Jesus is remembered.

Ephraim the Syrian taught that the date of the conception of Jesus Christ fell on 10 Nisan on the Hebrew calendar, the day in which the passover lamb was selected according to Exodus 12 (Hymn 4 on the Nativity).

[11] It has been a favorite artistic subject in both the Christian East and as Roman Catholic Marian art, particularly during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and figures in the repertoire of almost all of the great masters.

Works on the subject have been created by artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Caravaggio, Duccio, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Jan van Eyck, and Murillo among others.

Johann Sebastian Bach and others composed cantatas for the feast of the annunciation which is still celebrated in the Lutheran Church, such as Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 1.

Annunciation ( c. 1472–1475 ), Uffizi , is thought to be Leonardo da Vinci 's earliest complete work
Annunciation by Armenian manuscript illuminator Toros Roslin , 13th century
The Annunciation by Murillo , 1655–1660, Hermitage Museum , Saint Petersburg
The Annunciation , Russian icon , 14th century
Islamic Annunciation, from The Remaining Signs of Past Centuries , copied in 1307
Annunciation to Zechariah , taken from an Ethiopian Bible ( c. 1700 ), British Library
Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation , Nazareth