# The Visitation \(detail\) [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [TINTORETTO, Jacopo]() - Date: 1551-1600 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 240 x 146 cm \(entire painting\) ## Commentary The Visitation \(detail\) c. 1549 Oil on canvas, 240 x 146 cm \(entire painting\) Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna After the Angel Gabriel had announced the coming birth of Christ to Mary she visited Elisabeth, who was pregnant herself with John the Baptist. The movement of her own child in the womb told Elisabeth that the future mother of God stood before her. Her first words of greeting, a confirmation to Mary of the Annunciation itself, are inscribed on the rocky plinth at her feet: "Blessed art thou among women." Similarly, the opening words of the Magnificat, Mary's song of praise, are inscribed at her own feet: "My soul doth magnify the Lord." To leave space for the resonance of these words, Tintoretto does not depict Mary and Elisabeth embracing or exchanging the kiss of peace, but greeting each other from a distance. ## Related artworks - [A Philosopher \(detail\)]() - [A Philosopher]() - [Allegory of Faith]() - [Allegory of Fortune \(Felicità\)]() - [Allegory of Generosity]() - [Allegory of Goodness]() - [Allegory of Happiness]() - [Allegory of the Scuola della Carità]() - [Allegory of the Scuola della Misericordia]() - [Allegory of the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista]() - [Allegory of the Scuola di San Marco]() - [Allegory of the Scuola di San Teodoro]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()