Literary accounts with more detail, such as the presence of the Apostles, appeared in late medieval works such as theGolden Legend, and were followed by artists.[3] By the end of the Middle Ages, large and crowdedaltarpieces gave the artist the opportunity to show his virtuosity in composition, colouring and figure poses. After theReformation, it was used to assert the Catholic position, rejected by Protestants.[4]
Normally accompanied or carried by angels (but not usually carried by Christ, as in Orthodox icons) the Virgin Mary rises passively heavenward, where she is to be crowned by Christ, while the Apostles below surround her empty tomb as they stare up in awe.God the Father or Christ (as in the OrthodoxDormition) may be seen in the heavens above. She may be surrounded with an almond-shapedmandorla. Her hands are usually clasped in prayer in medieval images, but later may be thrown wide, as she gazes up, as inTitian's highly influentialaltarpiece for the Frari Church (1515–18) inVenice, which agitated the previously decorous apostles.[5] Examples include works byEl Greco,Rubens (several compositions),[6]Annibale Caracci, andNicolas Poussin, the last replacing the Apostles withputti throwing flowers into the tomb.[7]
Some versions show the Virgin dropping her belt, theGirdle of Thomas, toThomas the Apostle (best known for hisDoubting Thomas episode) as she rises; this was to give him tangible proof of what he had seen, given his earlier scepticism.[8] The "girdle" was a majorrelic of the Middles Ages, naturally existing in several versions. In a miniature by theMaster of James IV of Scotland (1510s), an angel passes it down to Thomas. This also has the unusual scene of the funeral procession with the Apostles.[9]
Rubens introduced two women, perhaps meant to beMartha and Mary, kneeling by thesarcophagus or bending over it. Having apparently unwrapped the shroud, they are usually holding it and collecting the roses found within. This motif was often included by later Flemish artists.[10]
Although the final age of Mary is not given in theNew Testament, from the Gospel evidence she was at least in her forties, and theGolden Legend gives her age at death as sixty or seventy-two.[11] In paintings of theCrucifixion of Jesus and the following events, she is normally depicted as a fairly old woman. But mostAssumptions give her a youthful or mature appearance, with exceptions like thePanciatichi Assumption byAndrea del Sarto, of c. 1522–23. By contrast the apostles are very often depicted as old men, with the youngest, SaintJohn, merely in his prime.[12] From the later 16th century some images show a more intimate depiction in thein aria type ofsacra conversatione, with a few selected saints replacing the crowd of apostles, and often the Virgin hovering not much above them.[13]
The alternative Catholic scene from the end of the Virgin Mary's early life is theDeath of the Virgin, which was more compatible with theDormition of the Theotokos inEastern Orthodox art and theology. Most treatments showed her lying in bed, surrounded by theTwelve Apostles, again reflecting theGolden Legend.[14] Some painters show both scenes, one above the other. Catholic doctrine, still emerging when most of these were painted, has declined to specify whether Mary had died before her bodily Assumption, although the slightly varying accounts given one after the other in late versions of theGolden Legend agree that she did, and was placed in a tomb, from which she was raised up three days later.[11]
Though once common in Catholic art, the last major treatment of theDeath of the Virgin by itself wasCaravaggio'spainting in the Louvre, who caused a stir by depicting her as an untidy and realistic corpse, which some considered a breach of decorum, though compatible with the doctrine of the Church.[15]
Assumption of the Virgin, with the Nativity, the Resurrection, the Adoration of the Magi, the Ascension of Christ, Saint Mark and an Angel, and Saint Luke and an Ox byJoachim Patinir, c. 1510–1518[21]
Baumstark, Reinhold,Liechtenstein: The Princely Collections, 1985, Editors: Bradford D. Kelleher, John P. O'Neill, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Sammlungen des Regierenden Fürsten von Liechtenstein,ISBN978-0870993855,Google books
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