It has sometimes been claimed that the Annunciation – which of course we mark on March 25 – is the most frequently painted theme in the history of European art. The passage from Luke, starting at Chapter 1, Verse 28, has inspired artists ever since Fra Angelico composed his famed fresco on the walls of a Florentine convent around 1450. It has inspired artists because of the significance of the moment, and perhaps also because Mary’s response was honest: she was, initially, “troubled”. And then she accepted and consented. Many artists have seen the Annunciation as a tribute to the central role of motherhood in Christianity, and art has played no small part in Marian devotion. In every country where Christianity has flourished, that reverence for Mother and Child, in the image of Mary and the Christ Child, has been a central theme. So it’s understandable that a Bavarian schoolteacher has caused widespread offence with her campaign against motherhood – claiming that babies are harming the planet. Verena Braunschweiger, 38, has vowed never to have children herself. She claims that each child adds 58 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere every year. A radical feminist, she describes childbirth as “a patriarchal imperative towards women” – ignoring the evidence that many women will go to the ends of the earth to become mothers. She thinks it’s deplorable that a woman who becomes pregnant is congratulated, when she should be reprimanded for adding to environmental damage. Ms Braunschweiger would like to see Germany’s population reduce from 83 million to 38 million. More women should be childless, she says. But here’s a paradox: the lower the fertility in any society, the more precious a child becomes. If more women are childless, mothers gain greater status. So Verena Braunschweiger’s social policy would actually bring about a more pronounced veneration of motherhood. The Renaissance artists knew, intuitively, that the Annunciation moment touches something deep in our humanity: and so it will always be.