Panel

Italian master Italy, Rome

Death of Mary 1250-1300

Details of production: Ms. O.L. Bouma (1977): perhaps not Roman, but Yugoslav (Serbia or Macedonia)

Scarpellini: pupil of Cavallini.

The story that an Italian master has depicted here is religious, although it is not to be found in the Bible. It is an apocryphal story. We see how the apostles witness the death and assumption of the Virgin. Saint Peter is standing on the far left, holding a censer and grabbing one of the candles, opposite Saint Paul, who carries a book and a lily, symbol of purity. Marys passing away is usually referred to as the dormitio (sleep), because she is reputed to have slept during the three days between her death and her assumption into heaven. Christ personally came down to earth to transport his mothers soul, in this painting depicted as a small, doll-like figure on Jesus lap. The Saviour is surrounded by an oval shape, a kind of halo known as a mandorla, covered with heads, probably cherubs. Painters used this body-sized nimbus to indicate that the events depicted could not be seen by mortal eyes. To the medieval beholder, this did not mean that it was all just a story or not real. On the contrary, in the thirteenth century, people had a firm belief in an unseen reality, a world of Platonic ideas, too perfect for humans to inhabit, but close enough for saints to be a part of.