The Visitation (MS)

The Visitation

Hungarian: Vizitáció
Artist	master MS
Year	1506
Medium	tempera on panel
Dimensions	140 cm × 94.5 cm (55 in × 37.2 in)
Location	Hungarian National Museum, Budapest

The Visitation (Hungarian: Vizitáció) is a 1506 panel painting by Hungarian painter known as Master MS in the collection of the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest.^[1][2]

Description

The painting's size is 140 × 94.5 centimeters. It is in the collection of the Hungarian National Museum, in Budapest.

Analysis

The painting is one of the most famous works in the medieval Hungarian art. It shows the Visitation with St. Elisabeth and Virgin Mary. All the natural elements that are depicted are in praise of the Lord. This idyll, however, is just an illusion - the bare rocks, twisted trees, beautiful and delicate flowers - iris, peony, strawberries in the foreground, are subtle symbols of the passion. Elizabeth makes homage to the Virgin Mary to show her devotion by slightly raising her left hand to kiss her. The painting once hung in the Church of Saint Catherine in Selmecbánya (today Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia).^[2] Other paintings from the altar of the church are kept in Lille (France), Svätý Anton (Slovakia) and Esztergom (Hungary). The inscription has been identified as being the same as that on an altar dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Krakow. It is assumed that MS is Marten Swarcz.^[1][3]

• 
  Church of St. Catherine, Banská Štiavnica
• 
  The kiss, detail

Others of the series from the Church of St. Catherine

• 
  The Adoration of the Magi, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille
• 
  Birth of Jesus, Parish Church of Antol, Svätý Anton
• 
  Carrying the Cross, Christian Museum
• 
  Calvary, Christian Museum
• 
  Resurrection, Christian Museum

References

1. MS mester, Vizitáció on museum website
2. The Visitation, Master M. S. on Europeana website
3. Paintings of the Passion by Master M.S. in the Christian Museum of Esztergom, English translation of the book by Miklos Mojzer by Lili Halapy (44P), ISBN 9789632073576