Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



Click to view high resolution image

  • Title: Diptych of Genoels-Elderen: back panel: The Annunciation and the Visitiation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Elizabeth
  • Creator:
  • Description: This panel showing the Annunciation and Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth is one of two openwork ivory panels from St. Martin’s church at Genoels-Elderen, Brussels. The accompanying panel shows Christ Triumphant and scenes of the Incarnation. Both panels were probably commissioned to cover a book. The Annunciation is depicted on the top half of the panel. The angel Gabriel stands before the seated Virgin Mary and reaches towards her. The Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin, Elizabeth is depicted in the lower half of the panel. Here, the Virgin is shown embracing her cousin affectionately. Stylistically, some scholars have argued that the panel of the Annunciation and Visitation was influenced by Northumbrian models. The lettering of the inscriptions surrounding the Annunciation and Visitation scenes, the elongated faces of the Virgin, Elizabeth, Gabriel, and the attendants, flattened folds within the drapery of their clothing, and interlace designs in the borders of the panel all point to Northumbrian influences. Carol Neuman de Vegvar has proposed that the panel originated in Bavaria.
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Public domain
  • Subject (See Also): Elizabeth (Biblical Figure) Mary, Virgin, Saint- Annunciation Mary, Virgin, Saint- Visitation
  • Geographic Area: British Isles; France; Germany
  • Century: 8th
  • Date: Late 8th C.
  • Related Work: Diptych of Genoels-Elderen: front panel: Christ Triumphant and scenes of the Incarnation: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Ivory_from_Genoels-Elderen_left.JPG.
  • Current Location: Musees Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire, Brussels
  • Original Location:
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital Images; Sculpture
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Plaques; Ivory
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 30 cm/18 cm/
  • Inscription: UBI GABRIHEL VENIT AD MARIAM (Where Gabriel comes to Mary) [at the top of the scene]; UBI MARIAM SALUTAVIT ELIZA- BETH (Where Mary greets Elizabeth)[beneath the Visitation scene]
  • Related Resources: Leslie Webster, Anglo-Saxon Art: A New History, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 2012, pg. 167-168. Carol