Italian school; XVI century.

Italian school; XVI century.
"The Visitation".
Gouache on golden vellum.
Measurements: 11 x 11 cm; 28,5 x 28,5 cm (frame).
Two feminine figures, dressed with tunics and with their white veils touched with halos, embrace each other in the foreground in a golden background that emphasizes the ideal of eternity and divinity of both figures. This is the representation of the visit that the Virgin, already pregnant with Christ, makes to her older cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with St. John the Baptist, a theme taken from the Gospel of Luke (1: 39-56).
The representation of The Visitation in the Italian painting of the 16th century acquires great importance both theologically and artistically, framed within the rise of Mannerism and the Counter-Reformation. This Gospel episode, which narrates the encounter between the Virgin Mary and her cousin Elizabeth, symbolizes the incarnation of divine grace and the communion between the Old and New Testaments. Artists such as Pontormo and Parmigianino explored this theme through dynamic compositions, vibrant colors and an expressive gestural language that emphasizes the emotion and spirituality of the scene. In the context of the Counter-Reformation, these images reinforced piety and devotion, while showing the stylistic evolution of Italian art towards greater formal and symbolic sophistication.