Angyali üdvözletek a Jakab-evangéliumban: Teológiai és ikonográfiai megközelítések

The Gospel of James (GJ) has made a significant contribution to the development of Mariology, the emergence of Marian feasts, the iconography of Mary, the Nativity, and the cult of Saint Anne and Joachim. Its influence was direct in the East and mediated by the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew in the West. This essay explores the annunciation scenes in the GJ as intertextual reworkings of the infancy gospels in Luke and Matthew, intertwined with Jewish traditions and ancient views on women’s occupations, as well as their iconographic reception. It examines key depictions, such as the annunciation at the well, the annunciation to the spinning virgin, and hybrid scenes that evoke both settings (e.g., the Maria gravida type and scenes involving both Anne and Mary). The continued use of traditions linked to the GJ in Western liturgy, despite its formal rejection, highlights the contradiction between enduring liturgical commemoration and the silencing of the underlying textual traditions (T. O’Loughlin). The impact of the GJ suggests that a sharp distinction between ‘canonical’ and ‘apocryphal’ is not helpful for understanding the roots of Christian faith and liturgical practice.