The Assumption of the Virgin Mary
about 1611/14–1621 | Peter Paul Rubens
The altar-piece was originally intended for the high altar of Antwerp Cathedral but hung from 1621 to 1776 in the Lady Chapel of that’s city’s Jesuit Church instead. While St. Mary is being assumed into heaven in a bright light, the men and women who have gathered around her now-empty tomb gaze in astonishment at the mortal world depicted in earthy colours. In contrast to the flowing dynamism of later versions, this monumental Assumption, which was Rubens’s first, has a rather static composition.
The altar-piece was originally intended for the high altar of Antwerp Cathedral but hung from 1621 to 1776 in the Lady Chapel of that’s city’s Jesuit Church instead. While St. Mary is being assumed into heaven in a bright light, the men and women who have gathered around her now-empty tomb gaze in astonishment at the mortal world depicted in earthy colours. In contrast to the flowing dynamism of later versions, this monumental Assumption, which was Rubens’s first, has a rather static composition.
Artist:
Peter Paul Rubens (1577 Siegen - 1640 Antwerpen) DNB
Time:
about 1611/14–1621
Object Name
Painting
Culture
Flemish
Material/technology:
oak wood
Dimensions:
oben rund: Overall: 458 x 297 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemäldegalerie
Invs.
Gemäldegalerie, 518
Provenance
Former altarpiece of the Chapel of Our Lady in the Jesuit Church in Antwerp; acquired 1776 from the Jesuit Church in Antwerp
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