The Annunciation

The painting portrays the Gospel scene of the Annunciation. Murashko deliberately abandoned the traditional approach, offering the viewer space for interpretations and reflection.

Murashko rejects the traditional signs of holiness, such as halos above the heads of Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. God's messenger does not even have wings, athough the light behind him is perceived as if it were a wing. 

is also depicted in a rather inconventional way. Firstly, it is difficult to determine the sex of the Messenger. Secondly, Gabriel has an unusual hairstyle that was clearly ahead of time. He seems to be preparing to address to Mary, as if reciting a script in his mind.

In Murashko's painting the Messanger of God also raises his hand, but his fingers are not yet folded in a gesture of blessing. The Archangel has just stepped onto the terrace, his left shoulder still covered by a white curtain, which in a moment would be behind him like a closed theatre curtain.

The Mother of God is kneeling with her back to the Archangel, her head turned slightly to one side. She is distracted not from prayer, but from needlework. There is no hind of holiness in her image, which helps the artist to make the evangelical event closer, clearer. 

Movement around the "floral circle" begins with the snow-white lily – a symbol of the Virgin Mary's purity. The flower's white petals symbolize the pure maiden's body, and the golden filaments the radiance of her soul.

Next to the Mother of God there are cut flowers that are difficult to identify. The transparent vessel is a visual metaphor for the purity of the Virgin Mary. The ray of sunlight passes through glass without breaking it, so did the Word of God enter the Womb of the Virgin, preserving her virginity

The lily is not the only flower on the picture. Potten geranium on the wooden porch are typical in Ukraininan homes. The flowers on the picture form a closed circle, which alludes to a certain isolation of the Mother of God from the earthly world at the moment of Annunciation.

In Murashko's Annunciation we hardly notice the red thread lying across Mary's shouders.

A vivid example of such an image is a painting by the celebrated Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens.

Rubens features a large pair of that looks almost like garden shears.

A notable element of the paiting is a narrow rug folded in two. Perhaps, it is an ordinary household object. Perhaps, it is something more, because its location marks a diagonal connecting the Archangel and the Virgin, on the other hand, separates them like a spatial caesura.

Light plays a crucial role in the painting. As it is one of the attribites of God, one or more rays illuminating Virgin Mary can be found in many Annunciation works. In Murashko's painting, scattered sunlight floods the entire terrace as the symbol of God's favor.