Данная тема известна в двух основных иконографических вариантах: у колодца и в храме.
Первый вариант возник из данных апокрифических источников.
Для оправдания одновременного существования двух противоречивых вариантов Благовещение у колодца рассматривалось как Предблаговещение, а сцена в храме - как истинное Благовещение.
It is known in two basic iconographic types: near the spring and in the temple.
The former arose on apocryphical literature.
In order to justify these two different types, these contradiction were explained thus: at the spring the Annunciation was considered as pre-Annunciation while in the temple, it is the Annunciation itself.
Сосуд чистый, приготовленный Богом при посредстве святых человеков и святых ангелов, приготовленный еще собственным настроением, еще был предочищен Святым Духом к принятию невещественого семени - Слова.
Когда Дева вопросила архангела об образе зачатия и рождения для безмужной - он объяснил Ей этот образ так: Дух Святой найдет на Тебя и сила Вышнего осенит Тебя Силою назван Бог-Слово.
Слово Божие есть вместе и Сила Божия и Премудрость Божия: все через Него - Слово - начало быть, и без Него ничто не начало быть, что начало быть. Дух Святой снизошел на чистую Деву и еще Ее очистил.
Чистая по собственному состоянию тела и духа, сделалась чистейшей от творческого действа, произведенного в Ней животворящим, очищающим, обновляющим, изменяющим Духом Божиим. Чистая Дева сделалась Пречистой, чуждой всякой скверны, благодатной, божественной Девой.
В такой обновленный и Богоукрашенный сосуд, стяжавший от действия в нём Св. Духа способность и достоинство принять в Себя Бога, и сошел Бог-Слово, сделался в утробе Девы и семенем и плодом, вочеловечился. Пречистая Дева принесла Свою чистейшую кровь в дар от всего человеческого рода Слову-Семени, для зачатия Богочеловека.
В древней Церкви, когда праздник Богоявления не разделялся на отдельные праздники и отмечался 6 января, в день предпразднства отмечалось Благовещение.
Трудно сказать, когда он стал отдельным праздником.
Несомненно, важную роль в его выделении сыграло строительство церкви св. Еленой, матерью Константина Великого, в Назарете, на том месте, где, по преданию, ангел предстал перед Марией.
День освящения этого храма и ежегодное празднование этого дня превратилось в местный праздник Благовещения, который с начала VII века постепенно распространился на весь христианский мир.
The icon of the Annunciation calls to mind the beautiful troparion of the feast day of the Annunciation,
as it depicts the archangel Gabriel announcing to Maria the Good News or "Evangelismos" of the beginning of the salvation of the world, when the Son Of Maria,
as the icon reminds us, was chosen by God to be the vehicle through which this salvation comes into the world, the vehicle of the miracle of the incarnation of the second person of the Holy Trinity, the incarnation of the Logos of God.
It was through the incarnation that heaven and earth became reunited. God became man. Yet, as the icon reminds us, for this miracle to occur the Divine will of God had to first be accepted by man.
God never imposes His will, His gift of salvation on us. We must cooperate in His Divine plan, as Maria did with the words "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word".
It was only with this acceptance that the Holy Spirit (in the form of a dove in the icon) descended upon Maria and fulfilled the words of the archangel,
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you".
It is through the icon of the Annunciation that we are reminded that God's gift of salvation requires our acceptance, our active participation and cooperation.
In the image of Maria, we must also accept and receive the "power of the Most High" and allow that power, those rays of divine energy to overshadow us,
to guide us in our lives and to strengthen us in our struggle against sin so that we may also fully receive the promise that was given to Maria, the promise of the evangelismos of our salvation!
The angel advances, usually from the left, carrying a rod or wand in his left hand {526 p. 652 - 653}.
The Virgin is either seated upon a cushioned bench, or has just risen from it. She holds the spindle with the red or purple thread, and by Her side is a basket.
(The Virgin is supposed to have been occupied in weaving a purple veil for the temple when the angel appeared. The basket is not usually found after the 11th century.)
Behind are buildings, but the scene passes in the open.
The rarer type, in which the angel finds the Maria drawing water from the well, also based upon the apocryphal Gospels, is not favoured by later Byzantine artists.
In the later periods Maria is commonly seated; the standing type, which is found on the early ampullae at Monza, and has been specially associated with Syria-Palestine, was not abandoned. The dove is sometimes represented above the Maria's head.
In the West, with the 14th century, the angel gradually assumes more animation, and is seen as it were flying forward or kneeling;
(In quite early Italian pictures, such as Duccio's Annunciatition in the National Gallery, the Byzantine type is retained. The angel has the collected manner usually seen in Byzantine Annunciations, from which the example at Kahriй Djami markedly differs.) the wool and basket are absent, and the scene is usually enacted under a roof.
The lily in the pot is Western, and becomes common in Italy in the 14th century.
The Annunciation as subject is connected with the texts of St Luke's Gospel and apocrypha - St James' version of the Gospel and the Armenian Book.
Scholars hold that the latter exerted the greatest influence on the formation of the iconography of this subject in Christian art. It can be found in Byzantine painting as early as the 5th century.
In Kiev Rus' there are several representations of the Annunciation in the frescoes and mosaics of St Sophia of Kyiv belonging to the first half of the 11th century.
They could also be found in St Michael's cathedral of the Golden Dome (early 12th century) and St Cyril's church (second half of the 12th century).
The main personages of the Annunciation are Maria and the archangel Gabriel, God's messenger, whose coming is connected with good news concerning the immaculate conception or the incarnation of Christ.
This icon represents the Annunciation, that is, the moment when "The angel came in unto (Maria), and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Maria: for thou hast found favor with God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS." (KJV, Luke 1: 28-31).
Archangel is in a very active pose, as if intent on fulfilling his divine mission, carrying a staff symbolizing his role as a messenger. Maria here stands attentive to God's command, while in other icons She may be depicted sitting down to emphasize Her superiority over the angel. Her head is bowed in consent and submission to the will of God. This is vital, because the Divine Incarnation could not have been the result of God's will alone, but also of the free will and faith of Virgin.
Благовещение связывается с толкованием таинства “воплощения” и библейским пророчеством Иезекиля [Ветхий Завет, кн.пророка Иезекиля, 44, 1-2] “о двери затворенной”, относимым к БР.
