I Samuel 1 and 2: Hannah Did You Know?

The similarities between Hannah's song (I Samuel 2:1-10) and Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) are well-documented and analyzed. Both songs are spoken after the promise of the birth of a boy child. Both have themes of the coming of God's reign, turning this world upside down: the poor are raised up and the lowly are exalted. God is fully in control through the one who was chosen and anointed by God.

What is quite different about these two women's stories is "the other woman." Both Hannah and Mary, in the context of their pregnancy experiences, encountered another woman. These "other" women offered quite contrasting responses to Hannah and Mary.

Hannah must deal with Peninnah, also wife to Elkanah. Peninnah has children where Hannah has none. Peninnah's practice is to provoke Hannah, taunting her about her lack of children. Though Elkanah professes to love Hannah best, she is still subject to the stinging words of the other woman. In the manuscript illumination below, Elkanah, Hannah, Peninnah, and her children are on the road back home from Jerusalem.

The journey home is one scene on a page devoted to the story of Hannah. In the top left Elkanah has made his sacrifice and distributes portions to Peninnah and her children as well as to Hannah. Though Hannah may receive a double portion, the greater amount goes to Peninnah who receives portions for herself and her children. In the upper right we see Hannah weeping in the temple, where Eli believes she is drunk. In the lower right is the miracle: the birth of Samuel.

In the lower left panel, Elkanah, his two wives and his children all seem to be on the road home. Elkanah has a raised finger as if he is chastising Peninnah for her taunting of Hannah. Peninnah's children appear to be eating bread as they walk.

(Left) Hannah's Grief; Hannah's Prayer; The Road Home; Samuel. The Morgan Picture Bible (MS M.638, folio 19v). Paris, France. 1240s. Morgan Library, New York. (Right) Visitation. Book of Hours of Maréchal de Boucicaut. 1405-08. Manuscript (Ms. 2) Musee Jacquemart-Andre, Paris, France.

What a trial life must have been to Hannah before the birth of Samuel. Hannah, of course, longs for a child and has been unable to have one, a circumstance that Elizabeth would fully understand. Mary is unmarried (though betrothed) and finds herself unexpectedly pregnant. Fortunately Mary's experience visiting her relative Elizabeth is entirely different from Hannah's difficulties. 

From the moment Mary arrives at the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah, she is greeted as one who has been blessed by God. Elizabeth acknowledges that "blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord." Elizabeth understands that Mary will be "the mother of [her] Lord." There is affection and respect and support between the two women.

Hannah, too, has received a promise of sorts. Eli asks that God fulfill her petition - which does happen. Presumably Peninnah's comments either stop or cease to hurt Hannah. Her son is not with her daily, but she has fulfilled the promise she made to give her son to God. As Mary's story unfolds, she, too, will give up her son. And that is when her own soul will be pierced by sorrow.

For thoughts relating I Samuel 2:1-10 and Mark 13:1-8, click here.
For how Psalm 113 relates to the story of Hannah, see Art&Faith Matters on Facebook.

Missing the Magnificat Point

In the gospel reading for Advent 4B, the angel Gabriel appears to Mary to announce that she has found favor with God. Mary's response to this visit is the song known as the Magnificat (because in Latin the first word of the song is "magnificat"). Mary sings about the world turned upside down by the Messiah: the proud are put down, the humble are exalted, the hungry are filled, the rich are sent away empty. The world is changed. But it may be that Italian artists of the proto-Renaissance and early Renaissance didn't quite get the point of the Messiah.

When you see paintings of the annunciation at its simplest, you'll see Mary and Gabriel. In all of the images below, Gabriel is on the left with Mary on the right. The earliest of these five is the altarpiece by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi (1333). Martini is a prominent figure of the Siena school. Notice that Mary shrinks back slightly from Gabriel who kneels before her. Between the two figures are two pieces of vegetation. A vase of lilies, symbol of Mary's purity, sits on the floor. Gabriel holds an olive branch in his hand. The olive symbolizes peace, with which Gabriel greets Mary.

Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi. Annunciation with Two Saints, 1333. Originally for chapel of Sant'Ansano, Cathedral, Siena. Now in Uffizi Gallery, Florence. http://www.uffizi.org/artworks/annunciation-by-simone-martini-and-lippo-memmi/

Roughly a hundred years later, Bicci de Lorenzo (born and died in Florence) paints a similar arrangement. Gabriel stands this time, but there is no vase of lilies. Instead he holds a stem of lilies in his hand.

Bicci di Lorenzo. The Annunciation. 1433. For altarpiece of Madonna and Child with Saints for Compagni Chapel, Santa Trinita, Florence. Private collection. 

A little more than ten years after Bicci, Giovanni di Paolo (working primarily in Siena) keeps the same composition. Between the figures, a vase of lilies. In Gabriel's hand, olive branch.

Giovanni di Paolo. Annunciation. 1445. Pinacoteca, Vatican, Room II, Inv. 40131. http://www.vaticanstate.va/content/vaticanstate/en/monumenti/musei-vaticani/pinacoteca.paginate.1.html

Five years or so after that, Filippo Lippi paints the Annunciation. Between the figures, a vase of lilies. In Gabriel's hand, a stem of lilies. Can you guess Lippi's hometown?

Filippo Lippi. The Annunciation. 1450-1453. National Gallery, London. http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/fra-filippo-lippi-the-annunciation

Fast forward another two decades or so to Francesco di Giorgio who paints the annunciation. Same compositional arrangement - Mary at right, Gabriel at left. In Gabriel's hand? Olive. Look under the photo to see where this Annunciation lives. 

Francesco di Giorgio Martini. The Annunciation. 1470-1472. Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena. 

For museum: http://pinacotecanazionale.siena.it/

Are you getting a sense that something is going on here? Something is. The lily is a civic emblem of the (then) city-state of Florence. Florentine artists were no doubt pleased to have their emblem in the hand of God's messenger come to earth to announce the salvation of humanity. The artists of rival city-state Siena were less than pleased - were in fact determined not to have the emblem of their enemy in the hand of God's messenger. Hence, the olive branch in Sienese Annunciations. It's more than a little ironic - celebrating the coming of the Messiah who will turn the world upside down, but being certain that God has nothing to do with people who aren't "us."

Who are these women? And what do they have to do with the Magnificat? Click on  the Art&Faith Matters Facebook page and see who they are. 

For thoughts on the reading from Hebrew scripture for Advent 3B (2 Samuel 7) click here.