In a watercolour measuring only 9 cm by 12 cm, the Angel Gabriel towers above the kneeling Virgin. The bedroom is small, almost claustrophobic, although the barred window is open to the night sky. Fiat mihi and Ave Maria are written on the walls, backwards — the painting is in mirror image, designed to be shown through a mirrorscope. The Virgin’s face is raised; there is trepidation there, and passive stillness. Her clothes are dark and plain; there is a vague suggestion of a halo. Gabriel, by contrast, looms large; he is all movement and flourish in striped robes, arm raised heavenward, halo full of light and colour, instructing and announcing in the enclosed space.