Attributed to Diego Quispe Tito (Cuzco, Perú, 1611 - 1681) 'The Visitation' Oil on canvas. Accompanied by an imposing carved and gilded wooden frame from the period. 56,5 x 41,5 cm.   A superb composition of the narrative passage found in Luke 1:39-45, attributed to Tito Quispe, considered to be one of the most prominent members of the Cuzco school. The scene fills the entire canvas. In a misty background, a tree in a garden is faintly suggested along with the house of Zechariah and Elizabeth depicted with an unreal architectural perspective. With carefully crafted details in the foreground, our gaze focuses on the two couples from this biblical encounter: Zechariah and Elizabeth on the left, and Joseph and Mary on the right. The men play secondary roles, positioned humbly, somewhat distant, 'a step back,' in reverence for this meeting. The love between the two women—cousins—takes center place.  The two figures meeting here are based on the engraving The Visitation by Jean Leclerc (1587-1633): their joining of hands expresses welcome, as does the hand resting on Mary’s womb as she exclaims, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.' The brushstrokes of the artist showcase his virtuosity through his depiction of intricate gold filigree and flowers scattered across the garments, as well as the trimming, lace, and edging that adorn them, symbolizing the importance of the characters in this scene. Serene, humble faces reflect affection and closeness, joy and respect. A blend of mysticism and tenderness brings this biblical event closer to a 'simple family meeting,' making it more relatable to the viewer so that they, too, 'feel visited,' invited as another member of this heavenly family. In a period frame, filled with overflowing leaves and flowers, highlighted by magnificent carving and gilding, rounding off this work of unsurpassed and delicate technical mastery and showcasing the artist's extraordinary skill in this painting.   As we read in the Real Academia de la Historia Quispe Tito 'Member of a family of the Inca aristocracy, is considered to be one of the main initiators of the Cuzco school of painting. He apparently came from the indigenous village of San Sebastián, where a significant part of his work can be found. It is centred on the decorative works for the parish church in that town, for which he worked intensively between 1634 and 1669. During those years he produced four large pictorial cycles: Life of Saint John the Baptist, The Passion, Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian and The Doctors of the Church. These groups of canvasses summarise Quispe Tito's maturity and originality, characterised by an ingenious reinterpretation of European prints and by a precise, agile brushstroke with lively colours. His fame soon spread beyond the confines of Cuzco, and in 1667 he was commissioned by the churches of Potosí to paint Jesus with the Doctors of the Church and The Betrothal of the Virgin, both of which are now in the Museo de la Casa de Moneda in Potosí. In the Inca capital itself, Quispe Tito's most ambitious work is the canvas of the Last Judgement, painted for the porter's lodge of the Convent of San Francisco in 1675.Here the Andean painter abandoned the dynamic formulas, in force until the High Renaissance and early Baroque periods in Europe, to return to the ordered scheme in depicting the Last Judgement, in the form of successive horizontal layers, common among medieval painters.'   Bibliographic reference: - Wuffarden, Luis Eduardo. (n.d.). 'Diego Quispe Tito'. https://dbe.rah.es/biografias/54757/diego-quispe-tito