Legends of the Madonna, as represented in the fine artsForming the third series of Sacred and legendary art . o ask heradvice—for being graced with all good gifts of the HolySpirit, and herself the mother of Wisdom, she could notneed advice ; but to sympathise with her cousin and revealwhat had happened to herself. Thus then they met, these two mothers of two greatprinces, of whom one was pronounced the greatest born ofwoman, and the other was his Lord; happiest and mostexalted of all womankind before or since, needs must they 204 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. have discoursed like seraphim and the m
Legends of the Madonna, as represented in the fine artsForming the third series of Sacred and legendary art . o ask heradvice—for being graced with all good gifts of the HolySpirit, and herself the mother of Wisdom, she could notneed advice ; but to sympathise with her cousin and revealwhat had happened to herself. Thus then they met, these two mothers of two greatprinces, of whom one was pronounced the greatest born ofwoman, and the other was his Lord; happiest and mostexalted of all womankind before or since, needs must they 204 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. have discoursed like seraphim and the most ecstasied order ofIntelligences ! Such was the blessed encounter representedin the Visitation. The number of the figures, the locality, and circumstances,vary greatly. Sometimes we have only the two women, with-out accessories of any kind, and nothing interferes with thehigh solemnity of that moment in which Elizabeth confessesthe mother of her Lord. The better to express this willinghomage, this momentous prophecy, she is often figures are frequently introduced, because it could not. 101 The Visitation. (Lucadella Robbia.) be supposed that Mary made the journey from Nazareth tothe dwelling of Zacharias near Jerusalem, a distance of fiftymiles, alone. Whether her husband Joseph accompanied her,is doubtful; and while many artists have introduced him,others have omitted him altogether. According to the ancientGreek formula laid down for the religious painters, Mary isaccompanied by a servant or a boy, who carries a stick acrosshis shoulder, and a basket slung to it. The old Italians who THE VISITATION. 205 followed the Byzantine models seldom omit this attendant,but in some instances (as in the magnificent composition ofMichael Angelo) a handmaid bearing a basket on her head issubstituted for the boj. In many instances Joseph, attired asa traveller, appears behind the Virgin, and Zacharias, in hispriestly turban and costume, behind Elizabeth. The locality is
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade18, booksubjectmaryblessedvirginsaint
