Visitation - Great Malvern Priory

This panel from the late medieval Magnificat Window (c1490) at Great Malvern Priory depicts the meeting of the Virgin Mary and her kinswoman Saint Elizabeth. The two figures stand closely together, their joined hands and gentle inclination of heads emphasising the moment of recognition described in Luke’s Gospel. Both are shown with distinctive English Gothic features—elongated faces, fine linear drapery, and soft colouring enhanced by yellow stain.
Behind them, two angels appear in attendance, one playing a lute, lending the scene a celestial character appropriate to the larger Marian programme of the window. The richly ornamented borders and the presence of armoured figures in the flanking lights are characteristic of the ambitious glazing scheme installed in the priory during the later 15th century, much of it funded by prominent local patrons. Despite areas of restoration, the panel preserves the clarity and elegance of late medieval English stained glass.
