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The episode tells of Mary's visit to Elizabeth, so it apparently describes a normal visit between two relatives who share the common condition of being expecting a child. The Virgin was urged by the announcement of the archangel Gabriel to go and visit her elderly cousin (according to apocryphal tradition) Elizabeth who is also expecting a child. Mary's mother, Anna, had also become pregnant when she was already considered sterile. The meeting, made of gestures and underlined by an embrace and a handshake, takes place on the threshold of Elizabeth's house, located on the top of a hill - according to the Gospel of Luke - against the backdrop of a sparse landscape; it has as witnesses a young woman on the highest step of the entrance (perhaps another relative of Mary), Zechariah with his hat in his right hand in homage to the holy guests, Joseph on the opposite side leaning on a stick. Upon Mary’s arrival, Elizabeth feels the baby leap in her womb, and exclaims: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” Mary responds with the prayer of the Magnificat. The Virgin will remain in Elizabeth’s house for three months, until the birth of John the Baptist. The Visitation also represents the first meeting between the latter and Jesus.