The ''Death of the Virgin'' acquired in 1944 by the
Legion of Honor Art Museum in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
is an oil painting on a panel created sometime in the late fifteenth century in
Swabia
Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
by an unknown artist, portraying the
Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
surrounded by the
twelve apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...
. The
subject
Subject ( la, subiectus "lying beneath") may refer to:
Philosophy
*''Hypokeimenon'', or ''subiectum'', in metaphysics, the "internal", non-objective being of a thing
**Subject (philosophy), a being that has subjective experiences, subjective cons ...
has been painted by several other anonymous
masters of the Death of the Virgin.
Art style
The painting contains many key religious figures, as religious works were the most popular during the Middle Ages. Religious paintings would often be done as works of patronage to a church, especially during the early Middle Ages. Towards the end of the fifteenth century, however, it was common for works of art to include more aspects of secular life and create a more human connection to the painting. The fact that Mary is elderly as she would be at that point in her life is historically accurate. All apostles are present at the scene of her death, but neither Jesus Christ nor any angels appear in the work.
Symbols in the work
The artwork contains a few symbols in it. One of the symbols is the candle which the Virgin Mary can be seen holding. This is often a sign of the fact that Mary is still alive in the work. In other works the candle may be out, signifying she has passed. Around her bed are the twelve apostles, who appear to be in a kind of funerary ritual, as one can be seen reading from a book, another is sprinkling her with water, and another is holding incense. The bed also has a step, making it so that the viewer does not seem to out of complete reach of the Virgin Mary. Mary is also dying in a house or room, which has more in common with a fifteenth century home than a fifth century one.
The Background of the story
The Death of the Virgin is inspired by a legend which originated in the fifth century, as it is nowhere to be found in any book from the Bible. The legend is also known as the
Dormition of Theotokos
The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the ''Theotokos'' ("Mother of G ...
(“the one who gave birth to God”), and originated mostly likely in the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
world, working its way westward into Europe. In the legend, Mary is visited by an angel, sometimes
Gabriel
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
, informing her that she will die soon. She is granted a wish in which she asks to be united with all twelve apostles when she dies. As such, the apostles are miraculously transported from all over the world to the place where the Virgin Mary is dying. Those who are dead are also transported, some appearing on clouds. The artist of the work has chosen to represent this aspect of the story, as all the apostles appear. However, the author’s choice to be more realistic has led to the fact that no angels are present at the scene.
See also
*
''Death of the Virgin'' (Caravaggio)
*
''Death of the Virgin'' (Mantegna)
Sources
{{reflist
#
The Death of the Virgin" Legion of Honor. Legion of Honor, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
# Nash, Steven A., Lynn F. Orr, and Marion C. Stewart. Masterworks of European Painting. New York: Hudson Hills, 1999. Print.
# Walsh, Elizabeth. "Images of Hope: Representations of the Death of the Virgin, East and West." Religion and the Arts 11.1 (2007): 1-44. Web.
Anonymous
Anonymous may refer to:
* Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown
** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author
* Anonym ...
15th-century paintings
German paintings
Art in the San Francisco Bay Area
Books in art