The Annunciation scene in the New Testament (Luke 1, 26–38) is one of the better-known parts of the Gospels, its popularity owing much, no doubt, to its incorporation in the centuries-old devotion of the ‘Angelus’. But even many of those who have little or no attachment to Catholic Christianity, are familiar with the Annunciation because it has been so frequently represented in the history of Western art. Its fascination for artists suggests that from this simple scene a message emerges that transcends the framework of historical Christianity in which it was first formulated, and addresses some more general or fundamental truth about the human situation. And yet, this scene has a very precise and definite origin that lies in the first stirrings of Christianity.