The subject is one of the most repeated in renaissance and baroque art. The Angel Gabriel foretells the birth of Christ holding a lily, the symbol of purity. (This particular genus of lily, still cultivated, is now known as the Madonna lily). The white dove symbolises the Holy Spirit illuminating the Virgin with rays of light. Calvaert executed this theme on several occasions in the form of large altarpieces. It seems likely that small pictures of this type were painted for devotional purposes rather than as studies for the large compositions.

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