I was just writing a paper on manuscript illuminations (isn’t life grand?) and it suddenly occurred to me that every single Annunciation scene I’ve ever seen shows Gabriel on the left delievering the good news to Mary on the right. There must be some symbolical reason for this. Anyone know what it is?
Lets try example one again
Your example two also seems screwed up. Perhaps flipped left to right ?
Well, actually, my premise was that every Annunciation I’ve ever seen shows Gabriel on the left. Your example one doesn’t seem to contradict that. Now that I’ve seen your example two, though, you’re right. My premise no longer stands. Still, I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t some reason why Gabriel is shown so often on the left (and Mary on the right).
WAG: Because most European languages are written left to right, so the flow of words goes from left to right, from Gabriel to Mary?
Seriously, though, the eye tends naturally to move from left to right when looking at a painting (yes, there are plenty of exceptions where the artist has deliberately arranged for a different eye-movement.)
I looked at a few while pondering your question. This one by Grunewald does not conform to your right/left orientation, but many do.
One thing I noticed was that many of these are painted on triptychs and altarpieces and the like.
Is it possible that the very rigorous format of those works dictates the composition?*
Think about it. In a narrative form the annunciation comes first, and then in some order, birth, death, and resurection. If the panels are painted left to right, like the written language, the annunciation would typically be on the left of the panel. Maybe the composition is best served by keeping things oriented as you have described.
Interestingly, the piece I linked to does not support that theory**, but still, I know what you mean. There are a lot of “Angel on the left” versions.
The above is merely a suggestion, not authoritative knowledge.
*Totally off topic- I got the strangest and most powerfull sense of deja-vu when typing this sentence. Creepy!
**It’s a triptych too