Detail of 'The Visitation' by Jacopo da Pontormo (1494-1557)
Florence in the early sixteenth-century justly deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest artistic centres of the Italian Renaissance, where Pontormo worked alongside Michelangelo and Raphael. Pontormo's career however won much less acclaim than his famous contemporaries. This detail from Pontormo's painting of The Visitation compels the viewers' attention. The artist departs from Luke's account of the story of Mary's meeting with her cousin Elizabeth by adding the two women who stand behind the mothers to-be. How does the viewer interpret the function of the two women who stare out at us? Might they be attendants, companions of Mary and Elizabeth? Their enigmatic presence like Pontormo's use of expressive movement in draperies and clashing colour combinations heightens our emotional engagement with the figures of Mary and Elizabeth. Restless energy in the billowing folds of Mary's blue cloak threatens to overwhelm her. Yet her steadfast faith and courage finds expression in the interlocking gaze and gesture that she and Elizabeth exchange. Is this the moment of recognition when both Mary and Elizabeth acknowledge Mary as "God-bearer"? Pontormo makes the three other women affirm how magnificently the divine became one with us through Mary's audacious acceptance and embrace of God's invitation.
Art Guide Resource
The 2014 Art Guide has been compiled by Claire Renkin, well-known art historian and lecturer at Yarra Theological Union and has been recorded by Dr. Rachael Kohn, author and public speaker, most well known for her ABC Radio National program, 'The Spirit of Things'. Music by Chris Zabriskie (chriszabriskie.com). Artworks © Bridgeman Images.
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