"Visitation" by Mannerist painter, Pontormo visits the U.S.

RUTLAND HERALD
By Carl Daher Delnero

“Visitation”(1529) by Pontormo; oil on panel, 6’6”x5’1” is in the United States for the first time ever.

In the year 787 the Roman Catholic Church, in the Second Council of Nicaea, laid down rules for depiction in sacred art. The objective was to teach the Christian faith to the illiterate masses through visual art. The church’s directions for depiction of the “Visitation” were clear: Mary should always be on the right of Elizabeth, and taller than her cousin. Halos over their heads were required. In this towering painting, Jacopo Carlucci Pontormo broke with traditional Catholic art canon and the High Renaissance style showing a deeply personal version of the miraculous encounter. Pontormo’s “Visitation” is at the Morgan Library in New York City through Jan. 6, then moves to The Getty in Los Angeles Feb. 5-April 28. [More]