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In the opening scene of [
68 Scorpion, Part One], part of the Florence version of "The Annunciation" is seen in the background. The righthand end, showing the Virgin Mary, is seen. The painting is seen in the episode on its side in the top left of the screenshot below.
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Regarding the screenshot excerpt left, mouseover the image to see the painting the correct way up |
dated c.1470-1473, oil and tempera on wood, 98 x 217 cm, located in Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence
The painting is thought to be one of Leonardo's earliest works. Reasons for the early dating are flaws in the spatial relationships e.g. Mary's right arm seems too long in connection with the lectern.
above: the scale of the painting
Like all his early works, Leonardo's painting of the Annunciation is controversial. There is no documentary evidence that he worked on the picture, only the sophistication and execution of the detail seem to confirm it. It is in a museum in Florence. It may have been created with the help of Domenico Ghirlandaio, who co-operated with Verrocchio's workshop for a time (where Leonardo was apprenticed, being enrolled as a painter in the fraternity of St Luke in Florence in 1472), or Lorenzo di Credi at the same workshop. The wings of the angel were changed at a later date by a less expert hand. Leonardo had painted them naturalistically as short bird's wings. There exists a similar painting, accepted as being by Leonardo, not seen in [Voyager], executed c.1478-82 in oils on wood panel, measuring 16 x 60 cm, located in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
 study of flowers | Left: This study of flowers, dating rom 1480-1481, was one of the many natural flower portraits that Leonardo catalogued in the inventory of his studies and work (folio 324 recto of the Codex Atlanticus) and it formed part of his research that was then expressed in "The Annunciation". The drawing is executed in pen mainly covering previous traces of a metallic point, brown ink, measures 18.3 x 20.,1 cm, located in the Galleria dell’Accademia, Venice, Italy. |
One of the reasons why the Florence "The Annunciation" is so famous is because of the masterly depiction of the Virgin's drapery. The depiction of drapery was an important artistic exercise at the time. Even in the Medieval Ages, artists had used the folds in drapery to convey stress or serenity or nervous tension or concentration. During the Renaissance, it became more usual to make the body seem ever more tangible beneath the clothing. In his biography of Leonardo dating from the 16th century, Giorgio Vasari, painter and art historian/commentator, wrote that the artist had made studies of cloth soaked in lime which he had draped over clay figures.
 | There exists a sleeve study for the Annunciation, dating from c.1470-1473, executed in red chalk on paper, measuring 8.5 x 9.5 cm, at Christ Church, Oxford, England, which is another indication that Leonardo prepared every aspect of the picture to the last detail. |
 above: close-up of Mary in the Florence "The Annunciation" | The Annunciation to the Virgin Mary was a popular theme in the painting of the 14th and 15th centuries. During the Renaissance, commissions on religious themes provided the greatest part of any artist's work, as they had always done. Leonardo therefore was expected to follow suit and he had available to him a time-honoured artistic tradition to work from. |
 above: Lippi's "Annunciation" | Leonardo must have been familiar with the work of his Florentine contemporaries, including that the famous "Annunciation" picture by Filippo Lippi (who was only just a contemporary, living 1406-1469). Lippi's full name was Filippo di Tommaso di Lippo, and he is often referred to as Fra Lippi. His "Annunciation" was a work typical of the Early Renaissance period. |
 above: close-up of Mary in the Florence "The Annunciation" | Leonardo followed on from Lippi's style by depicting the biblical event as not at all abstract, with a realism enforced by the portrayal of everyday objects and not too grand architecture - the scene takes place in a walled garden (Latin term: hortus conclusus) which is an ancient symbol of Mary's virginity, but she is sitting in front of a Renaissance-style (i.e. at that time, modern) house. On the lectern in front of Mary is a book, symbolising her wisdom. |
The encounter between the Virgin and the Angel Gabriel is portrayed by gesture and body language. The white lily in Gabriel's left hand symbolises the virgin conception as the lily represents purity.
 lily | Left: Detail of a lily which, though it is dated 1480-85, is an example of the kind of preparatory drawings Leonardo would have done for the lily in "The Annunciation". The outline of the lily is perforated for transferring the drawing to a wood panel. This drawing is pen and ink, black chalk on paper, 314 x 177 mm, and is located in the Royal Library, Windsor Castle, Windsor, England. |
"The Annunciation", or part of it, is seen also in this screenshot from [75 Scientific Method]. This moment occurs when Seven leaves the Da Vinci Holoscenario. Holo-Leonardo is not present. The Doctor has taken the role of Leonardo, and his visual parameters are altered so that he looks the part, complete with Renaissance hat, part of which obscures the above screenshot.
 | More of the painting can be seen in the background of this screenshot from [75 Scientific Method]. |
| In addition, in the above screenshot, part of Leonardo's painting "John the Baptist" can be seen, with its characteristic pointing finger. Leonardo himself was known for this characteristic gesture. This means that the holo-workshop scenario is, in [75 Scientific Method], set in at least 1513, as that is the earliest date experts conjecture for when the painting was started. The dates given for it, in fact, are 1513-16. It is the only surviving painting from Leonardo's time in Rome and was probably the last ever painting he did. |
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above: [75 Scientific Method] - the image looks distorted and with a green Borg hue because this is what Seven is seeing after the Doctor has adjusted her Borg sensory nodes to a phase variance of .15 using a type-4 micro-inducer
 | There is a brush black-and-white study of drapery for the seated figure (although the finished painting's drapery differs slightly), grey tempura with white highlights. The study, which dates from c.1472-1475, measures 26.4 x 25.3 cm (it is located in the Louvre Museum, Paris), and was probably done in connection with "The Annunciation". Such studies were part of an artist's education, and were executed in black-and-white as they were mainly concerned with the distribution of light and shade. |
As in so many of his paintings, Leonardo arranges the figures so that their faces are on a dark background, in order to make the pale facial colours more conspicuous.
 close-up |
In one moment in [68 and 69 Scorpion], Janeway is standing next to a 3-dimensional geometric shape. See it large at the top of this page or here at smaller size. |
 polyhedra |
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Janet's Star Trek Voyager Site