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Detail from the painting of Leonardo Da Vinci, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
In Christianity, the Annunciation is the revelation to Mary, the mother of Jesus by the archangel Gabriel that she would conceive a child to be born the Son of God. The Christian churches celebrate this with the feast of Annunciation on March 25, which as the Incarnation of Christ is nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Jesus, or Christmas. The traditional location of the Annunciation is in the town of Nazareth, Israel, where is currently located the Church of the Annunciation. The Annunciation painting by Leonardo da Vinci is set in the enclosed courtyard garden of a Florentine villa. Archangel Gabriel holds to the Madonna a lily, a symbol of Mary's virginity and of the city of Florence. It is believed that Leonardo originally copied the wings from those of a bird in flight. The marble table in front of the Virgin probably resembles the one in the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, that was sculpted by Verrocchio in this same period. The background shows a Harbour scene that is believed to be at Rome.
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