''Christ Bearing the Soul of the Virgin'' is a

tempera Tempera (), also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Tempera also refers to the paintings done ...

on panel painting measuring 27.5 by 17.5 cm by

Andrea Mantegna Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order ...

. It was completed around 1462 and is now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

. It shows Christ in an almond-shaped cloud bearing the soul of the Virgin Mary straight to heaven after her death, accompanied by cherubs - the soul is represented by a statuette, rather than the more usual symbol of a child.

History

Roberto Longhi Roberto Longhi (28 December 1890 – 3 June 1970) was an Italian academic, art historian, and curator. The main subjects of his studies were the painters Caravaggio and Piero della Francesca. Early life and career Longhi was born in December 18 ...

was the first to identify it as a fragment of the upper register of ''

Death of the Virgin The Death of the Virgin Mary is a common subject in Western Christian art, the equivalent of the Dormition of the Theotokos in Eastern Orthodox art. This depiction became less common as the doctrine of the Assumption gained support in the Roma ...

'' (

Prado The Prado Museum ( ; ), officially known as Museo Nacional del Prado, is the main Spanish national art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It migh ...

), probably for the private chapel of

Ludovico III Gonzaga Ludovico III Gonzaga of Mantua, also spelled Lodovico (also Ludovico II; 5 June 1412 – 12 June 1478) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1444 to his death in 1478. Biography Ludovico was the son of Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga and ...

in the Castello di San Giorgio in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

. At its base is the arch which links it to the main painting. The design and decorative scheme for Ludovico's chapel was Mantegna's first official commission - he became court painter in 1460, but negotiations to bring him to court had begun three years earlier. During the 16th century the chapel was rebuilt and redecorated, with the 15th century paintings and decorations removed, though the 16th century scheme itself was later destroyed. ''Death of the Virgin'' ended up in Ferrara, as shown by its appearance in a 1588 inventory listing it as among the paintings in the small private chapel of Margherita Gonzaga, wife of Alfonso II d'Este - the part of the work showing Christ and the Virgin's soul may have been removed at this time to fit the work into its smaller new home. Tatjana Pauli, ''Mantegna'', serie ''Art Book'', Leonardo Arte, Milano 2001.

References

{{authority control Paintings by Andrea Mantegna 1462 paintings Gonzaga art collection Paintings depicting Jesus Angels in art Paintings of the Virgin Mary Paintings in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Ferrara