The symbol of light’s ray in images of the annunciation of the 14th and 15th centuries according to greek patrology

Abstract

The current article tries to interpret the deep doctrinal meanings derived from the visual and textual metaphors related to the ray of light, the Sun, and other light elements. underlying the symbol of the beam of light depicted in the images of the Annunciation of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. To undertake this goal, we will follow two methodological strategies based on comparative analysis. Firstly, we will analyze some texts through which many Greek-Eastern Church Fathers interpret several biblical terms, such as Sol iustitiae, lux mundi, and other similar expressions as metaphors that symbolize God the Son incarnate. Secondly, we will analyze eight images of the Annunciation from the 14th and 15th centuries that include a ray of light emitted by God the Father towards the Virgin Mary. From the comparative analyzes between both sets, texts and images, we will conclude that this ray of light represented in such Annunciations is a visual metaphor that illustrates the textual metaphors deciphered by the Greek-Eastern Fathers from the Biblical expressions mentioned, as a symbol of Christ, "Sun of Justice” and“ light of the world”, which is incarnated to redeem Humanity from the darkness of error and sin.