The ''Carmignano Visitation'' is a c.1528-1530 oil on panel painting of the Visitation by

Pontormo Jacopo Carucci (May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as ''Jacopo da Pontormo'', ''Jacopo Pontormo'', or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerism, Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a pr ...

, now in the propositura dei Santi Michele e Francesco in

Carmignano Carmignano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Prato, part of the Italian region Tuscany. It is located about west of Florence and about southwest of Prato. It is the centre of the wine region of the same name. Geography C ...

( PO,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

). Elisabetta Marchetti Letta, ''Pontormo, Rosso Fiorentino'', Scala, Firenze 1994. Unmentioned in

Vasari Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...

's ''

Lives of the Artists ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' ( it, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori), often simply known as ''The Lives'' ( it, Le Vite), is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-ce ...

'', the painting is usually attributed to the years just after Pontormo's work on the

Capponi Chapel The Barbadori Chapel, later Capponi Chapel, is a chapel in the church of Santa Felicita in Florence, central Italy. It was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, and was later decorated by a cycle of works by the Mannerist painter Pontormo. History Bar ...

. Originally on the Pinadori family altar, it has remained in the church for which it was painted for almost its whole existence. A preparatory drawing for it is now in the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

, with the squaring for its transfer to the panel. Its

rhombus In plane Euclidean geometry, a rhombus (plural rhombi or rhombuses) is a quadrilateral whose four sides all have the same length. Another name is equilateral quadrilateral, since equilateral means that all of its sides are equal in length. The ...

composition is based on that of ''Four Witches'', a 1497 print by Dürer. In the foreground of the painting, we see Mary, St. Elizabeth, and two handmaids. While, on the left, in the background, there are two mysterious people to be identified, perhaps as St. Joseph and Zacharias. It inspired

Bill Viola Bill Viola ( , ; born 1951) is an American contemporary video artist whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, d ...

's video work ''The Greeting'' (1995), which for a time was exhibited in a room next to the painting. The painting has appeared in the temporary exhibitions ''Pontormo e Rosso Fiorentino. Divergenti vie della maniera'' (

Palazzo Strozzi Palazzo Strozzi is a palace in Florence, Italy. History The construction of the palace was begun in 1489 by Benedetto da Maiano, for Filippo Strozzi the Elder, a rival of the Medici who had returned to the city in November 1466 and desired the ...

, Florence, 2014) and ''Bill Viola. Rinascimento elettronico'' (Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 2017).

References

{{16C-painting-stub category:1520s paintings Paintings of the Visitation category:Paintings by Pontormo Carmignano