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The Virgin Mary Reading and Women Reading: the Annunciation and Medieval Women's Book Culture Hye-Min Lee The Annunciation has been the most important and the most frequently quoted image when historians carry out research on the history of medieval women's reading. However, precedent studies have concentrated on the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. The iconography of the Annunciation before the 13th century has been neglected by specialists of the history of books and reading. Therefore, the aim of this research is to extend chronologically the scope of the inquiry and to replace the iconography of the Annunciation, by comparing it with other visual and literary sources. in historical, social and cultural contexts. This study sets out from our conviction that visual sources can offer a lot of precious information on the book culture of medieval women. This study especially makes analysis of an iconographic element such as the book and its relationship with the Virgin. It reveals at least three important historical moments when important iconographic transformations intervened in the Annunciation scene. First, the book became an attribute of the Virgin in the ninth-century, the period following the 'Carolingian Renaissance'. At that time, it is possible that the legible 'caroline minuscule' allowed a few of aristocratic men and women to acquire Latin literacy, though limited in its range, for reading a Psalter. Second, the iconography of the Virgin holding a codex has largely increased between the twelfth and the thirteenth centuries. This period is characterized by the growth of vernacular literacy. The noble women are major audience and readers of vernacular literatures. They are also important commissioners of pious works. However, the 'closed' book of the Virgin in the Annunciation seems to symbolize the limit of women's access to theological knowledge. Finally, the most drastic transformation occurs from the mid-fourteenth century. The scene of the Virgin's reading is introduced in the Annunciation. Moreover, by the fifteenth-century, the background setting is layed in daily life. The renovation begins mainly in Sienna and in Flemish cities which were economic and artistic centers. At that time, the noble and the bourgeois women played an active role in the private devotion and they were also important clients of the book market who purchased Psalters and Books of Hours. To sum up, the iconographic transformation of the Annunciation was closely related to the historical, social and cultural contexts. However, it was not merely a reflection of the real world. It was rather an ideologically constructed medium. The reading Virgin became an ideal model for medieval women readers, especially when the female literacy and the number of women book owners have relatively increased. (Yonsei University / zephyrum@dreamwiz.com)