Visitation (detail): Elisabeth's kiss of hands

It is the motion of Mary's loosely held left hand that catches our eyes on The Entombment by Schongauer, where Magdolna kisses the left hand of the dead Christ. But Elisabeth's lips do not touch Mary's hand. The pattern was previously introduced on The Entombment by Rogier van der Weyden.


Martin Schongauer
(c. 1430-1491)
The Entombment
c. 1480
Copper engraving, 162 x 114 mm
Albertina, Vienna