Visitation of Mary and Elizabeth, Church of the Timios Stavros at Pelendri

The imagery of the fetuses in the womb of the Virgin and Elizabeth is rare within Byzantine icons, and this unique motif “has no exact precedent in Byzantine art” (Christoforaki 2018, 159 and 238; Stylianou, A 1985, 228). While the visible Christ baby in utero occurs in Western iconography, it appears later in the fifteenth century, mainly in German art (Christoforaki 1996, 238; Stylianou, A 1985, 228; Weyl Carr 1994, 346). This is an important detail, as the Western influence on Cyprus mostly came from Italian art and artists at the time   the Virgin Mary frescoes were painted at this monastery (Andronikou 2022, 280; Weyl Carr 1994, 357). Instead, it is suggested that this unique iconography is linked to two different illuminated manuscripts from Armenia, which are dated to the 1270s (Christoforaki 2018, 159; Weyl Carr 1994, 346). Christoforaki and Weyl Carr directly connect them to the Prince Vasak Gospels, and Erevan, Matenadaran, M979 manuscripts which has similar visual depictions of the Visitation (1996, 239; 1994, 346). Weyl Carr also notes that its artistic style is far more connected to Armenian art on account of its “rich colors, heavily highlighted drapery, [and its] exuberant architecture” (1994, 346).