I Disagree with the New York Times Critic on How to Read the Pontormo Painting

Roberta Smith of The New York Times writes:

“The smallest of the fall’s great museum exhibitions centers on a single Mannerist masterpiece: Jacopo da Pontormo’s stunning Visitation (1528–30), which depicts the meeting of the Virgin Mary and her aged cousin Elizabeth. Both are pregnant (Elizabeth with John the Baptist); each is accompanied by an attendant.”

Look at the painting. In the foreground, the Virgin Mary and her aged cousin Elizabeth embrace, celebrating their miraculous pregnancies.

Now, look closely at the features of the older woman standing behind Elizabeth—they are identical to Elizabeth's own. Even the green tones of Elizabeth’s robes are echoed in this figure’s garments. Likewise, examine the young woman standing behind the Virgin Mary: her face and the pink tones of her dress mirror Mary's exactly.

What we are looking at are not four separate women, but two. The two figures with somber, direct gazes in the background are Mary and Elizabeth themselves, experiencing a uncanny prophetic vision of the future: the martyrdom of their sons.

This painting is on exhibition at The Morgan Library & Museum (225 Madison Avenue, New York, NY) through January 6, 2019.