Death of the Virgin panel
Type:
Diptychs,
Panel paintings
Date:
ca. 1400
Location or Findspot (Modern-Day Country):
Austria
Medium:
Tempera,
Oil painting,
Gold,
Wood
Dimensions:
66 × 53.3 cm
Description:
In this panel painting of ca. 1400, originally part of a diptych, Mary is receiving the last rites before death. She reclines on a bed surrounded by the apostles as Peter, wearing the papal tiara because he was considered the first pope, reads from the Office of the Dead. The apostles in the foreground are also reading prayers for the dead; the one on the left wears glasses. The empty cushion between them invites the viewer to join the scene in her or his imagination.
The hook-nosed figure in profile next to Mary's head is Judas, shown without a halo and with his armband inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew letters. It is difficult to explain his presence here; the Gospels agree that he was already dead (and replaced as an apostle) by the time of Mary's death.
The composition is borrowed from the Byzantine Koimesis, in which Christ comes down to Mary's bedside to lift her soul up to Heaven. In this painting, the crowned Christ at the top, visible between the gilded clouds, already holds his mother's soul. On the tooled gold background are music-playing angels.
The artist, known as the Master of Heiligenkreuz—a place that housed a different work of his—painted figures with incredibly long, spindly fingers. The other half of this diptych depicts the death of St. Clare of Assisi (d. 1253), so the work was probably made for a convent of Poor Clares, who practiced poverty, fasting, prayer, and "angelic" singing. Before they were nuns, these women were aristocrats comfortable with paintings shimmering with gold.
The hook-nosed figure in profile next to Mary's head is Judas, shown without a halo and with his armband inscribed in pseudo-Hebrew letters. It is difficult to explain his presence here; the Gospels agree that he was already dead (and replaced as an apostle) by the time of Mary's death.
The composition is borrowed from the Byzantine Koimesis, in which Christ comes down to Mary's bedside to lift her soul up to Heaven. In this painting, the crowned Christ at the top, visible between the gilded clouds, already holds his mother's soul. On the tooled gold background are music-playing angels.
The artist, known as the Master of Heiligenkreuz—a place that housed a different work of his—painted figures with incredibly long, spindly fingers. The other half of this diptych depicts the death of St. Clare of Assisi (d. 1253), so the work was probably made for a convent of Poor Clares, who practiced poverty, fasting, prayer, and "angelic" singing. Before they were nuns, these women were aristocrats comfortable with paintings shimmering with gold.
Relevant Textbook Chapter(s):
10
Repository and Online Resources:
• The painting is in the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA 1936.496). You can zoom in on its details there.
• The other half of the diptych is in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Image Credits:
Cleveland Museum of Art
