Miriam McClung
Crossville, TN
Birmingham, Alabama artist painting on life and faith for over seventy years.
Message- Miriam McClung
- The Annunciation or Hail Oh Favored One, 1996
- Pastel on Paper
- 44.5 x 28 in
- Framed: 46 x 29.25 x 1.5 in
- Inv: 107-MM
- $5,880
"The Annunciation" or "Hail Oh Favored One" work is one of three in the series on Christ's birth along with “Unto Us” and “And Everyone Went to His Own City” are meant to be shown together. They are all done in pastels on a blue background with words describing the story of Christ’s birth.
Based on the biblical story in Luke 1:28, this painting depicts a young Mary looking composed despite the extraordinary circumstances of an angel appearing before her. Mary's expression suggests she is puzzled by the angel's words, conveying her uncertainty about the remarkable event unfolding before her. The angel's greeting "Hail oh favored one" conveys the Lord's favor and presence, and seems to put Mary at ease.
When painting this biblical scene, Miriam was reminded of the poem "Seven Stanzas at Easter" by John Updyke. In the poem, a stanza reads "
And if we have an angel at the tomb,
Make it a real angel,
Weighty with Max Planck’s quanta, vivid with hair, opaque in
The dawn light, robed in real linen
Spun on a definite loom.
Miriam was also influenced to write the words of the scripture on the painting itself after seeing the work of Southern painter William Dunlap at an exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Mixing the words of the scripture into paintings is popular now, but was not a common practice among artists in 1996 depicting biblical scenes.
- Subject Matter: Biblical
- Collections: Biblical, Christ's Birth