The last week before Christmas and while we scramble to get the final orders in the post, here on the Persephone Post: Christmas paintings to soothe the spirit. This is The Annunciation by Fra Angelico, it's at St Marco in Florence. Some of us, including the writer of the Post, first saw this when they were 18 and it must have influenced their sense of colour and form forever. The composition, and the pink especially, are miraculously beautiful.