Study for the Visitation (Carmignano)

The artwork

Before the Visitation of Carmignano, Pontormo's most famous painting, there was this sheet: the final study, already squared up for transfer to the panel. It comes printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• The composition of the masterpiece as a drawing, without colour.
• A restrained, elegant sheet for a study or a bookcase.
• A gift for lovers of Pontormo and for those who draw.

The Visitation is the meeting between Mary, pregnant with Jesus, and her cousin Elizabeth, pregnant with John the Baptist. Pontormo painted it between 1528 and 1532 for the parish church of San Michele in Carmignano, near Prato. Behind the two embracing women he placed two more figures who look out towards us: who they are remains a mystery to this day.

This is the final study, squared up. The squaring, a grid drawn over the drawing, was used to transfer it on a large scale to the panel without losing the proportions. The sheet is held at the Uffizi, and at the exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome it hangs beside the painting: the before and the after, side by side.

In a study, on a bookcase or beside a desk: it is the gift for lovers of Pontormo and for anyone who wants to have at home the moment a masterpiece is born.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in)
Framed size: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with a gold fillet, handmade, with glass