this should
be."

The angel spoke again, and his words reassured her: "Fear not, Mary:
for thou hast found favour with God." Then he told her that she was to
be the mother of a wonderful son. "Thou shalt call his name Jesus," he
said. "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his
kingdom there shall be no end."[42]

When at last Mary understood the meaning of the angel's message she
humbly accepted her great destiny. "Behold the handmaid of the Lord,"
she replied; "be it unto me according to thy word." From this day
until the birth of Jesus her thoughts were full of her coming
motherhood. Once she broke forth into a song of praise:--

"My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Saviour, For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden, For,
behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he
that is mighty hath magnified me, and holy is his name."[43]

The bas-relief by Andrea della Robbia tells the story of the angel's
visit to Mary, the subject usually called the Annunciation. At one
side sits the Virgin with an open book on her lap, as if she had been
reading. She has a girl's slender figure, and her head is modestly
draped with a mantle. The angel kneels opposite, with folded hands. He
has long pointed wings covered with feathers as "a bird of God," in
Dante's phrase.

From above a fatherly face looks down upon them out of a surrounding
circle of winged cherub heads. Beside the Virgin stands a jar of
lilies, the flowers which symbolize the purity of her maidenhood. Over
these soars a white dove, the same symbol of the Divine Spirit which
descended upon Jesus at his baptism.[44]

[Illustration: THE ANNUNCIATION (ANDREA DELLA ROBBIA) _Altar Piece at
La Verna_]

Already the angel has delivered his message, and now awaits the
answer. His face is round and innocent like a child's, and his long
hair is carefully curled. The Virgin has listened with drooping head,
and with her hand pressed to her breast as if to still the beating of
her heart. She seems too timid to lift her eyes to meet her radiant
guest. Yet her whole attitude expresses submission to the divine will.

The artist has expressed with rare delicacy of imagination the
religious sentiment of the incident. The interpretation is in a
similar vein to t