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Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth

Jan van Scorel

  • Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth 2
  • Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth 3
Basic information
ID
Ж-760
Author
Jan van Scorel
Name
Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth
Date of creation
16th c.
Country
Netherlands
Technique
oil painting
Material
wood oil
Dimensions (height x width, cm)
50 x 56
Additionally
Type
painting
Genre
religious
Provenance
the Lubomirski collection
Exposition
Potocki Palace
Information about author
Author
Jan van Scorel
Artist's lifetime
1495–1562
Country
Netherlands
Biography
Jan van Scorel was among the most renowned figures in 16th-century Dutch art. He became one of the first "Romanists", painters who instilled the ideas of Italian art into the Dutch artistic culture. In the spirit of the Renaissance, Jan van Scorel was not only a gifted painter and graphic artist but also a humanist, musician, and poet. The artist was born in the village of Schoorl in 1495. Almost nothing is known about his youth and studies. He is thought to have studied under Pieter Gerritsz, Jacob Cornelisz, or Jan Gossaert. During his youth, Jan van Scorel travelled around Europe; he mainly visited Cologne, Venice, Rome, Genoa, and many other cities. Karel van Mander wrote about his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. After returning from the Holy Land, Jan van Scorel went to Rome and became the court painter of Pope Hadrian VI. When the pontiff died in 1624, he returned to Utrecht and established a large workshop that produced altars and private prayer icons, most of which were destroyed during the iconoclasm era.
Object description
The picture depicts the meeting of the Virgin Mary and St. Elizabeth, a common motif in Dutch religious painting. This biblical story tells about Mary's visit to her older cousin Elizabeth after the Annunciation, who was also pregnant with John the Baptist. In the artwork, the Virgin Mary is holding St. Elizabeth's hand. Through the rock with a grotto depicted behind women, one can see a pilgrim with a servant pointing his hand at two saints. An essential element of the work is a landscape with a valley and rocky hills. Human figures appear only as an addition to it. The landscape is executed in brown-green tones that smoothly turn into blue-green ones, creating the impression of spatial depth. Such a colouristic solution was typical of many early landscapes by Jan van Scorel, such as "The Landscape with a Tournament and Hunters" or "The Adoration of the Magi". The painting, created between 1519 and 1520, most likely belongs to the early period of the artist's oeuvre.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery

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