Bulletin du Musée National de Varsovie (28.1987)

„Anne looketl up to the sky and saw a bird's nest on the laurel bush. She uttered a ery of
pain..." (111,1) 't

„An angel of the Lord appeared in front of her and said: 'Anne, Anne, the Lord has listened
to your prayer. You shall conceive and bear a child, and your offspring shall be known al] over
the earth.'" (IV, 1)

Pseudo-Matthew's apocryphal Gospel brings a similar version of the annunciation to Anne:
(Anne) was erying while praying. Thus, erying in her garden, she raised her eyes to the Lord
with a moan... 'I have made a vow that if thou wilt give me a son or a daughter, I will offer
them to thee in this sanctuary'" (111,2).

Once she had said it, an angel of the Lord appeared in front of her and said:" Do not be afraid,
Anne, your offspring is in divine plans, and the child that will be born of you, will be worshipped
for ever, until the end of the world." (11,3)

A relief on the wing of a Syrian diptych brings an aceurate illustration of this apocryphal
scenę (Fig. 18)41. In addition to the parallelism of the two characters, Hannah, the mother of
Samuel, and Anne, the mother of Mary, the composition of the relief scenę imitates the icono-
graphy of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary.

Anne's attitude combines the motif of prayer and that of vision42.

The content of apocryphal texts treating of St. Anne is linked with her liturgie cult43. The
earliest Byzantine feast the „Annunciation of the Conception of the Mother of God" has a special
meaning. The above is the title of George of Nicomedia's first homily44. The miraculous annun-
ciation is described in the apocryphal Proloevangelium Jacobi.

The apocryphal narrative of the birth of Mary was the subject of theological disputes, focussing
mainly on textual criticism of two passages in the 4th chapter, as early as the 4th century. An
angel appears to Anne, who is lost in despair because of her barrenness and says: „Anne, Anne,
God has listened to your prayer. You shall conceive and bear a child" (IV, 1).

Soon after, Joachim, Anne's husband, who is away with his flocks, receives a similar message
from heavens: „Joachim, Joachim, the Lord has listened to your prayer. Your wife Anne has
conceived" (IV, 2).

Theological interpretation of these texts, the oldest evidence of the Immaculata Conceptia
Mariae, was done by Othmar Perler45, who indicates the use of the Greek Past Perfect for „ha*
conceived" (zi^t^eu), while later editions give the futurę form, „will conceive" (krtfzroti) in

41. Two carved plaques with St Anne, Syria, 6lh — 8th century, ivoiy, 10,3 X 6,9 cm, Leningrad, State Hermitage Museum,
Age of Spirituality, op. cit., No 459, 460, p. 510—512: „The ivories depict the story of the Virgin's mother St. Anne, which is
recorded in the Prolovangelium of James, an apocryphal Gospel written in Syria during the Iast decade of the second century
— the same text illustratcd in other parts of the diptych. Although the Annunciation to Anne was patterned after portrayał
of the canonical scenę, the birds in the trec clearly allude to Anne's lament over her barrenness — „even the birds are
fruitful before thee" (Protoevangelium of James 3, 2).A. Bank, Byzanlin Ąrt tn the Collection of Saviet Museums, Lenin-
grad, 1985, p. 277, No 38, 6th or early 7th century.

42. On the mosaic in Daphni (Attica), c. 1100, in front of the fountain with basins and the nests of birds St Anne is standing
rising hands in prayer and directing her glance to the Angel appearing above: J. Lafontaine-Dosogne, „Iconography of
the Cycle of the Life of the Virgin" in: The Kariye Djami, IV, Studies in the Art of the Kariye Djami and lts Intelleclual
Backgronnd. Ed. P. A. Underwood, Princeton, 1975, p. 174, Fig. 7.

43. M. Jugie, „La fete de la Conception d'Anne", Echos d'0rieni, XVI, 1913, p. 491—492; the same, VImmaculee Conception
dans 1'Ecriture Sainle et dans la traditicn oricntale, Romare, 1952 {Bibliolheca Immaculatae Conceptionis. Textus et disauisi-
tiones, 3), p. 135—142: La fete bysantine de la conception d'Anne.

44 .Homily Jrt Conceptione Dei Genilricis (Mignę, Patrologia Graeca, vol. C, col. 1353). The author States that the feast of
the Conception belongs to the main festivals of the liturgical year and takes among them the first place not only chronolo-
gieally but also materially; John of Eubea (the circlc of John of Damascus), Patr. Gr. XC, col, 1473 saw in this feast the
first of all festivals, in which Joachim and Anne r eceivcd promise of the nativity of the Purissima, the most pure Mother of
Christ.

45. The basie article of O. Perler was extensivey used, sec our footnote 39.

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