Detail View: The AMICA Library: The Visitation

Soon after the Virgin Mary learned of her miraculous conception of Jesus, she visited her kinswoman Elizabeth, who was also expecting a child, John the Baptist. This representation of their joyous meeting comes from the Dominican convent of Katharinenthal, in the Lake Constance region of present-day Switzerland. Carved of walnut, with the original paint and gilding almost completely preserved, the figures of Mary and Elizabeth are each inset with crystal-covered cavities through which images of their infants may originally have been seen. The representation of the Visitation incorporating images of the unborn Christ and John the Baptist, found with some frequency in contemporary works from German-speaking lands, emphasizes the moment when, according to 'The Golden Legend,' Saint John, being unable 'to manifest his joy with his tongue,' leapt 'with joy in his mother's womb.' The Virgin tenderly places her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, while her cousin raises her arm to her breast in reference to her declaration, 'Who am I, that the mother of the Lord should visit me?' (Luke 1:43).