Church of the Annunciation, Nazareth, Interior
Felix Bonfils
Description
Subject Matter:
This photograph shows an interior view of the former Church of the Annunciation (demolished and rebuilt in the twentieth century) in an almost completely symmetrical composition. The diagonal lines formed by two staircases, one on either side of the photograph, lead the eye to the picture’s ostensible main subject: a sculpture of the Virgin Mary. The robed figure of Mary, who appears at the apex of the image, is lost among the suffusion of details that surround her. Further, the three Franciscan friars who stand and/or kneel in prayer similarly almost vanish amid a panoply of decorative elements. Floral patterns on rugs and wallpaper, as well as the foliate grillwork on the banisters, fuse visually with the bouquets of actual living flowers. This image is one of hundreds of photographs made throughout Bonfils's career which purport to document various landscapes, cityscapes, and people of the eastern Mediterranean.
Physical Description:
Three figures in black robes stand on or near a landing that connects two staircases in front of a shrine. In the top-middle of the photograph, a sculpture of a robed female figure stands amid numerous rows of vertical candlesticks in front of an arched recess.
Usage Rights:
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