Annunciation oil on panel, 1998 22" X 30" Click on pictures below for detail view. Annunciation paintings are common in Western art. The Annunciation refers to the moment in the New Testament when the Virgin Mary is told by an angel that she will be the mother of Jesus. Some traditional features of Annunciation paintings include light streaming through an open window (the light of the holy spirit, often literally depicted as radiating lines); Mary reading a book (legend has it that the angel interrupted Mary at the moment she was reading an Old Testament prophecy of the coming savior); and the angel Gabriel presenting Mary with a lily. My painting shows a moment just after the Annunciation, with the "angel" leaving through the open window. The lily rests on a dresser, and a book sits open on the desk behind the young woman. The "Virgin Mary" was my good friend Taryn, who endured many hours of uncomfortable kneeling while I painted.