Annunciation (Fra Angelico, Madrid)

Beneath a classical loggia - an open, column-lined porch - the angel Gabriel bows to the Virgin and announces that she will bear the son of God (Luke 1:26-38), a shaft of gold carrying the dove of the Holy Spirit toward her. In the garden at the left, Adam and Eve are expelled from Eden (Genesis 3) - the original sin that Christ's coming will undo, which is why the two scenes belong together. Fra Angelico, a Dominican friar who painted as an act of devotion, bathes the scene in clear light and tender color; its serene order reflects the new Renaissance command of perspective and classical architecture.