Ecce Ancilla Domini ! (The Annunciation) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti Dante Gabriel Rossetti (May 12, 1828 - April 10, 1882) was an English poet, painter and translator. The son of 閙igr?Italian scholar. 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 is nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Jesus, or Christmas. The date of the Annunciation was also the New Year in many places, including England (where it is called Lady Day) and the American colonies. ㏕opFoto