The Annunciation

Henry Ossawa Tanner flipped the script on traditional religious art by painting the angel Gabriel not as a winged man, but as a blinding, vertical column of light crashing into a humble bedroom. The young Mary sits on her bed, looking less like a glowing saint and more like a startled teenager processing some heavy news. Tanner, an African American artist who found fame in Paris to escape US racism, used this 1898 masterpiece to make the divine feel incredibly human and intimate. It was so groundbreaking that the Philadelphia Museum of Art bought it immediately, making it the first work by a Black artist in their collection.

Technique: Oil on canvas

Location: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Views: 1

Related Artworks

Study for Moses and the Burning Bush Henry Ossawa Tanner
Les Invalides, Paris Henry Ossawa Tanner 1896
Capsized Fishing Boats, Brittany Henry Ossawa Tanner
Christ Walking on the Water Henry Ossawa Tanner
Palace of Justice, Tangier Henry Ossawa Tanner ca. 1912-1913
Portrait of the Artist’s Mother Henry Ossawa Tanner
Scene Of Algiers Henry Ossawa Tanner
The Good Shepherd Henry Ossawa Tanner
Gateway, Tangier Henry Ossawa Tanner ca. 1910
Spinning By Firelight–The Boyhood of George Washington Gray Henry Ossawa Tanner 1894
Study for Flight to Egypt Henry Ossawa Tanner ca. 1899-1923
Head of a Jew in Palestine Henry Ossawa Tanner 1899
Luncheon On The Grass Édouard Manet 1863
Selbstbildnis Egon Schiele 1910
Man with a Hoe Jean-François Millet
The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage Edgar Degas ca. 1874
The Lament for Icarus Herbert James Draper 1898
Open Valley, Dolomites John Singer Sargent circa 1913 -14
Landscape John Singer Sargent late 19th-early 20th century
The Birth of Venus Alexandre Cabanel 1875
The Immaculate Conception Giovanni Battista Tiepolo from 1767 until 1768
The Immaculate Conception Guido Reni 1627
Mourning Virgin Jean Hey 1500-05
The Madonna At Prayer 3 Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato