Beskrivning: Se beskrivning i den engelska versionen.

Catalogue raisonné: Description in Italian Paintings: Three Centuries of Collecting, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, 2015, cat.no. 106: 

TECHNICAL NOTES: The support is a single piece of fine, densely
woven, plain-weave linen fabric. The tacking edges are cropped,
and the edges are covered with brown strips of paper. The ground
is red. The paint layer is abraded, and some of the colours seem to
be degraded, like the flesh colours and the red of the Virgin’s mantle.
There are many old retouches. The varnish is dimmed. Documented
restorations: 1868: Restored by Chapuis (“rentoilage”),
C. G. Plageman; 1926: Old repairs adjusted; Described in the 1958
catalogue as “heavily restored”.

PROVENANCE: Byström 1852.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: NM Cat. 1867, p. 9; Sander 1872–76, IV p. 112, no.
19 (as Garofalo); Göthe 1910, pp. 32–33; NM Cat. 1958, p. 134 (as
Moretto, copy after); Begni Redova 1988, pp. 560–561; NM Cat.
1990, p. 238 (as Moretto, copy after).

This painting¹ of the well-known biblical scene
showing the Virgin Mary visiting her relative
Elizabeth derives from an original by Moretto,
first documented in the Aldobrandini Collection
and now in a private collection in Rome.² The
latter is an early work by Moretto dated to about
1525. The Nationalmuseum canvas differs from
the original chiefly in the background, with the
figural group of the original arranged within a
dark interior, illuminated by an arched window
to the left, while in the Nationalmuseum version
the scene takes place outdoors in a mountainous
and architectural setting. In the Stockholm
painting an additional male protagonist can be
seen to the left, along with Joseph, and the latter
also shows changes in his dress.

A studio variant on Moretto’s original in
Rome, previously on deposit in the Louvre, was
sold at Christie’s in New York in 2000.³
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1 In the Byström Collection, and when the canvas was later
purchased by the Nationalmuseum, it was erroneously
attributed to Benvenuto Tisi, known as il Garofalo: RA, E I
a: 280 Finansdep. Konseljakt, ärende nr. II, 1852-05-26,
Katalog öfver framlidne Professor J. N. Byströms
Tafvel-Samling, no. 38, “Elisabeth besökande Maria, af
Garofalo, 800 riksdaler banco”; NM archives, Kongl.
Museum, G: 3, Redogörelse för statsanslaget till Kongl.
Museum, 1844–1854; NM Archives, Kongl. Museum, D: 1,
Inventarier över Kongl. Museum, 1803–1857.
2 Gombosi 1943, p. 115, no. 198; Berenson 1968, p. 278; Begni
Redova 1988, pp. 208–209, no. 33.
3 New York, Christie’s, 27 January 2000, Important Old
Master Paintings (sale cat. 2000), no. 80; Gombosi 1943, p.
111, no. 167, fig. 41; Begni Redova 1988, no. 213, p. 560. [End]

Foto: Erik Cornelius / Nationalmuseum 2012

Marias och Elisabets möte