Visitation by Bertin Duval - Alençon France

1531
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This early 16th-century panel by the Norman glass-painter Bertin Duval forms part of a larger glazing scheme dated 1531. The scene depicts the meeting of the Virgin Mary and her cousin Saint Elizabeth, rendered in Duval’s distinctive style: firm contour lines, broad areas of rich colour, and expressive, slightly elongated figures. Mary, in red and blue, approaches from the left, while Elizabeth bows forward in greeting, her hand raised in acknowledgement. A female attendant occupies the right-hand light, her gesture echoing the main figures and balancing the composition.

The architectural porch and wooded landscape provide contrasting settings, one structured and classical, the other loosely painted in silver stain and green pigment, typical of regional French Renaissance glazing. Despite later repairs visible in the leadwork, the panel preserves Duval’s characteristic clarity of narrative and his careful handling of drapery and light.