Visitation of the Virgin Mary to her cousin Saint Elizabeth and Flight into Egypt

This sketch is part of a pictorial and decorative ensemble at the Royal Palace of Aranjuez, a series of paintings that celebrates the figure of the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception.

Bayeu takes the opportunity to depict two scenes that would be separated by a wall: the Visitation and the Flight into Egypt. The first scene depicts the meeting between the Virgin and Saint Joseph, with Saint Elizabeth and Saint Zacharias. The scene focuses on the embrace between the cousins, with their husbands in the background. The second scene, The Flight into Egypt, set in the desert, features Saint Joseph and the Virgin Mary once again, this time on a mule, held by an angel.