The Annunciation (1898) by Henry Ossawa Tanner
Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937) holds a unique place among American painters. Firstly, although considered a realist painter, painting many realist paintings, e.g. The Banjo Lesson (1893) and The Thankful Poor (1894), he also stands as one of the leading painters of sacred art during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, e.g. Daniel in the Lions’ Den (1895) and The Resurrection of Lazarus (1896). Secondly, Tanner was African-American and might well be the premier painter of African descent in all art history.
Henry Tanner was blessed to be born in Pittsburgh to a minister who ensured that he received an excellent education. He was also blessed to be born at a time when Thomas Eakins had begun to encourage women and blacks to study art seriously. Art historians consider Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) to be not only America’s leading realist artist of the 19th century, but also one of the most important American artists of all time. For example, in The Gross Clinic, Eakins depicts–in exacting detail–Dr. Samuel Gross as he oversees an operation to remove a diseased bone from a patient’s thigh. In addition to his work as a painter, Thomas Eakins joined the staff of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1876 and became its director six years later.
In 1879, Henry Ossawa Tanner enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy and quickly became one of Thomas Eakins’ best students as well as his friend. Unfortunately, however, late 19th century America did not present the best opportunity for an African-American artist. Seeking better prospects, Tanner journeyed to France in 1891 where he spent the remainder of his life and became an internationally celebrated artist.
For a realist painter, creating a vision of something supernatural presented innumerable problems, which is why almost no realist painters created sacred art. Realist artists embraced Positivism and Empiricism. As a result, they depicted only those events that they themselves could directly observe. Thus, although an artist might use a young woman as a model for a painting of an angel, a realist would never even consider painting an angel. As Gustave Courbet, the leading realist artist said, “I cannot paint an angel because I have never seen one.” Yet Tanner, raised in a religious home by a minister, could not deny his heritage. Like Courbet, he had never seen an angel, but he believed nonetheless in their existence. Thus, he posits the question: what would the Annunciation have really looked like?
Drawing on his roots as a realist, Tanner portrays Mary as he imagines she would have looked at the moment the angel Gabriel appeared to her. First, he knows that Mary was a teenage Jewish girl from Israel. Thus, ethnically she is Middle Eastern. Tanner portrays her with dark hair and Middle Eastern skin tones, not as a blonde woman from Northern Europe as so many prior artists had done. Not being wealthy, Mary would be dressed in the clothes of a poor person and her room would reflect her humble status. Thus, she sits on her simple bed with its rumpled sheets, in a room with rough plain walls with fissured plaster, and a cracked, cobblestone floor. She has almost no possessions, with the exception of a lamp with its low burning flame and a jug, perhaps filled with water. Like William Holman-Hunt before him, Tanner had visited the Holy Land where he had made sketches and drawings which enabled him to lend a great deal of authenticity to his work.
Tanner’s Mary is not the regal queen so often portrayed by Renaissance painters like Botticelli and Leonardo. This poor girl does not even have sandals for her feet. In all of Tanner’s religious paintings, he emphasized the humanity of his subjects. Moreover, while Mary seems anxious in the presence of the Angel, she does not seem afraid. With her hands folded in her lap in prayer, she gazes at the angel with peace and serenity. She seems to listen intently to all that he has to say to her.
Of all Tanner’s divergences from tradition, his depiction of Gabriel as a pillar of light must rank as the most imaginative. Yet, who, not having seen an angel can dispute his interpretation? The traditional artistic depiction of angelic beings with wings presents no more accurate a depiction of a supernatural being than does Tanner.
Historically, artists had portrayed angels as winged-beings to express their ability to travel. God the Father sends them as messengers from the Heavenly throne to men and women on earth. Theologically, artists realized that angels do not “fly” like birds, but artists employed creative license in order to convey movement and the sense of swiftness with which angels could journey from Heaven to Earth.
Tanner, as a realist, cannot accept the notion of angels as birds. Like Gustave Courbet, Tanner had never seen an angel, but he knew what angels were: supernatural beings. Thus, he attempted to depict the manner in which a supernatural being might appear to a young woman. Would the being not appear as a form of bright light, that is, a pure spiritual energy? Perhaps.
However, despite whatever theological statement he tried to make in the Annunciation, Tanner remains first and foremost an artist. By depicting the angel as a being of pure light, the angel becomes the sole light source in the painting. Gabriel illuminates Mary in his Heavenly glow. Note also how the shelf behind the pillar of light intersects with him, thus forming a cross. Note as well how the three pots, the one on the shelf, the one at Gabriel’s “feet,” and the one on the far right behind Mary form a triangle around her. These three pots symbolize not only the Trinity but also her future as the vessel that will bear Our Blessed Lord.
Henry Ossawa Tanner has broken with realist teachings as well as traditional Annunciation iconography to create a truly inspiring and memorable masterpiece. He has taken his Christian beliefs and combined them with the best of realist ideas to create something unique. As one looks at this painting, one might wonder what Our Lady might have thought of it and Tanner’s portrayal of her. Of course, this question lies far beyond the scope of simple artistic analysis. However, perhaps a hint lies in Our Lady’s own words:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
