Ekphrasis, Lorenzo Lotto's Annunciation, and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion

Abstract

Lorenzo Lotto's Recanati Annunciation develops the second of the traditional pericopes in St. Luke's narrative of the Annunciation, presenting to the spectator the Virgin's startled reaction to the arrival of the angel Gabriel and suggesting that we might employ a hermeneutics of suspicion in reading the Gospel text. Recent literary responses to Lotto's painting and to the Lukan text engage in a similar hermeneutics to offer an understanding of personal and cultural responses to the Annunciation narrative and to present at times a counter-narrative.

Annuntiatio Domini: Metaphoric conceptualization and gesture analysis in painted representations of the Annunciation

“…In terms of metaphoric gestures, the CLASPED HANDS of God conventionally stand for a BLESSING and Gabriel's pointing up represents GOD, following the conceptual metaphor DIVINITY IS UP (Meier et al, 2007). Regarding Mary, the hand gesture seems to represent the attempt to distance herself from the Annunciation of her destiny, representing the metaphor SURPRISE IS RAISING THE PALMS (see Padgett, 2006). In this sense, the feelings of surprise that Mary shows are both related to the Annunciation itself (becoming the mother of Jesus, the Son of God) and to the process in which it is communicated (the angel comes from behind Mary, surprising her during her daily activities).…”