The Annunciation
Masolino da Panicale, Fresco 1428, Basilica of San Clemente,
Rome
“Pray for us, Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy
of the promises of Christ.”
One of the most beautiful Annunciations in Rome is
overlooked by most pilgrims. Most
visitors to the ancient basilica of San Clemente come to see the three-tiered archeological
excavations that trace the history of the building back to first century Rome
or the vividly detailed 12th century mosaics in the apse. Our lovely
virgin is found high up on the rear wall of the church, part of an elaborate Renaissance
scheme of fresco decoration for a chapel.
Masolino da Panicale (1383-1447) collaborated with some of
the greatest artists of the early Renaissance including Ghiberti and Masaccio
in Florence, but like this fresco he is not as well known. His peers celebrated
his work for bringing fresh vitality and elegance, and, to my eyes, his
frescoes are still more engaging than almost anything else to be seen in Roman
churches.
Masolino situates the Annunciation in an elaborate portico
that is neither inside nor outside, the opening to something completely new. He
uses the architecture of the chapel to emphasize the distance between Mary and
the angel, the distance between the promise of the Messiah and Mary’s
conception, the distance between the angel’s request and Mary’s Fiat, when
salvation awaits the word of a girl.
Mary’s stillness in this fresco is what captivates me. She
is a woman at prayer, a contemplative whose entire attention is fixed on God. The
Word of God stands before her on a bookstand, but more significantly it is
already within her. The physical presence of the angel is mostly for the
benefit of the viewer. Mary receives God’s message internally. Many Fathers of
the Church relate how, before Mary could conceive Christ in her womb, she first
conceived him in her heart. Masolino has stripped away every unnecessary
detail, every distraction, to draw our attention to this profound encounter
between God and his beloved daughter, to this moment of prayer so attentive, so
loving, so generative that it will give birth to the long-awaited Savior.
Lumen Gentium, the great document of Vatican II, speaks of
Mary’s “pilgrimage of faith.” (58) Masolino asks us to ponder her “pilgrimage
of prayer:” her unshakable faith, her ready obedience, her simple
humility, her joyous praise of the Lord, her ardent love, the brave and
steadfast performance of her duty which is above all to persevere in union with
her son and with the Father he reveals. How blessed we are to be able to join our prayers to hers and to ask her to pray for us.
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