ABSTRACT
The Annunciation has Moses and the Burning Bush and Gideon's Fleece; the Visitation has Mercy and Truth on one side, and Righteousness and Peace on the other. The titulus for the Visitation scene was Salutacio Marie & Elizabeth. The types had longer tituli in leonine hexameters relating the central scene to its precursor. The Visitation is, interestingly, split into four episodes: Virgin Mary going into the mountains, the salutation of Mary and Elizabeth Woodville, the Magnificat, and the birth of John the Baptist. An image of the Visitation usually appears in French and some Netherlandish Books of Hours illustrating Lauds, while Psalm 84 is recited in the following Hour of Prime, which could suggest some sort of link by juxtaposition, and familiarise it to a lay audience. But in English Books of Hours the illustrations of the Life of Mary are generally replaced by scenes from the Passion.
