Visitation

The visit of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, just after the Annunciation, is told by Luke (1:36–56). Their meeting was one of mutual rejoicing: Mary had conceived and Elizabeth was in the sixth month of pregnancy after a lifetime of barrenness. (Her child was John the Baptist.) The theme occurs in the cycle of scenes of the life of the Virgin, and is found also as a separate subject. In Gothic art the two generally greet each other formally with a bow; the Renaissance shows them in the act of embracing. Later works, particularly after the Counter-Reformation, treat the theme devotionally, showing Elizabeth kneeling in homage before the Virgin. The scene is usually in the open before the house of Zacharias, the husband of Elizabeth. She is portrayed as an elderly matron in contrast to the youthful Virgin. The women may be alone or, especially in 16th century Venetian painting, accompanied by two men: Zacharias, who was high priest of the Temple, wearing vestments, and Joseph, the husband of Mary. More rarely Mary Clopas (or Cleophas) and Mary Salome are present. The Byzantine painters' guide states: "Behind them a little child with a stick upon his shoulder, at the end of which a basket is hanging. On the other side is a stable. A mule is tied to it and feeds." These reminders of the Virgin's journey are occasionally found in the early Renaissance.

An attempt was made in early Christian art to represent visually Christ's Incarnation in the womb. It took the form of a small effigy of a child, as it were, a foetus, usually framed in a medallion or Mandorla, affixed to the Virgin's body. Called the "Platytera", it appeared first in Byzantine art of the 5th or 6th cents and spread to the West in the later Middle Ages, especially Germany, in scenes of the Annunciation and Visitation. The women may each be shown with a manikin-like child lying against her breast or against the curved drapery covering her belly. The tiny figures may even be seen exchanging greetings. The motif excited some disapproval among churchmen and with rare exceptions died out during the 15th century