Mary, Queen Assumed into Heaven
The Assumption of the Virgin, 1475 Francesco Botticini
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Mediatrix of all graces into Heaven has been a topic of fascination, inspiration and devotion for the faithful, especially artists, since the early days of the Church.
The artistic legacy of the late Middle Ages, early Renaissance and Gothic Revival have cemented this imagery of the Virgin Mary being brought up to Heaven, body and soul, into the collective consciousness of Catholics around the world.
Believed universally by early Christians, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven was only formalised Dogmatically (“ex cathedra”) by Pope Pius XII in 1950.
On that day more than 700,000 of the faithful from around the world gathered in Saint Peters Square to hear the proclamation of the Apostolic Constitution “Munificentissimus Deus” (“most bountiful God”).
This would be the most recent time that a Pope invoked his Papal infallibility. The previous occasion also being to proclaim another Marian Dogma, “Ineffabilis Deus”, (“Ineffable God"), on the Immaculate Conception in 1854.
Catholic tradition holds that Mary experienced a natural death, was buried and on the third day was assumed into heaven. The Dogmatic declaration of 1950 however tactfully does not specify whether Mary had died before her assumption. This can be attributed to the level of certainty required to make an infallible “ex cathedra” proclamation, which is binding on all the faithful.
Unlike with her Son Christ, we do not use the terms ascension or resurrection when referring to Our Lady, as she is passive, relying on God to assume her body and soul into heaven, unlike Christ, who as God, ascended into Heaven by his own active power.
In the eastern Catholic and Orthodox tradition liturgy, the feast of the Assumption on 15th August is referred to as the Dormition of the Theotokos (Mother of God). Orthodox icons have a remarkable continuity between early church and more contemporary art depicting the event.
One could describe this strict continuity as somewhat rigid and certainly unconducive to valid artistic innovation. The Latin west in contrast sees a development of the genre down the centuries, most ascetically pleasing, some mediocre and a dozen or so masterpieces.
Andrea del Castagno’s 1450 depiction of the Assumption of the Virgin
It is therefore in the Western Latin rite that the assumption has given rise to some of the most noble artistic expressions in all of Christendom. While a subject not as extensively depicted as other iconographical topics (such as the Madonna and Child), the task of visually capturing the Assumption has attracted the attention of Europes master artists down the centuries.
The following article will give an overview of the genre using carefully selected examples of the best artworks addressing the Assumption. They represent the best that Europe has to offer, Florentine, German, Venetian, Flemish and believe it or not even French.
Andrea del Castagno’s 1450 and Johann Koerbecke’s 1457 depiction of the Assumption are two the best examples of the late Middle Ages.
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary, 1457. Painting by Johann Koerbecke
While Koerbecke’s work belongs to the Gothic Westphalian School of the medieval Germanic world, the epicentre of which can be found on the lower Rhine river and its many distributaries, (modern day Germany, Netherlands and Belgium), del Castagno’s work originates from the intense 15th century city state rivalry of the northern Italian peninsula, which gave brith to the early Renaissance. This competition between Venice, Florence, Pisa and Bologna would create a legacy of Marian art that still has not been surpassed.
Botticini would incorporate many of these same elements into his 1475 depiction a generation later. Most notably Botticini gives the viewer a good sense of heaven and earth. The blue sky, featuring a concave celestial vortex with hierarchy of angels, contrasts beautifully with the northern Italian landscape panorama below.
The order of angels, known as “Angelic Choirs” are divided into three spheres. The first and highest sphere consists of Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones. The second sphere consists of Dominions, Virtues, and Powers. The third and lowest sphere is made up of Principalities, Archangels and Angels.
Assumption of the Virgin by Titian 1518 in Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, Venice
The Venetian master Titian uses this angelic imagery in his own work in 1518. His work conveys the movement of Our Lady skywards and her reception by God the Father. Cherubs ,angels of the first sphere of Angelic Choirs, gracefully lift up the cloud on which the Virgin Mary stands, while the apostles beneath her look on in dismay.
Titian uses an artistic license here as of course at the Assumption of Our lady occurs after the departure of the Apostles to the four corners of the World.
Many have speculated as to the exact earthly location of Mary’s assumption into Heaven. Some have suggested that Ephesus, an ancient ionian greek settlement in modern day Turkey, could be a possible location.
This hypothesise is attributed to St. John the Evangelist’s presence there at the time. Christ entrusted his mother to Saint John and vice versa (John 19:26-27), and many thought that therefore that would mean that the two would not have separated.
However in all likelihood Jerusalem is a more accurate location for the site of the Assumption. The Apocryphal texts cite Jerusalem as the site of her funeral procession and this is collaborated by the writings of 8th Century Doctor of the Church St. John Damascene. Further adding weight to this conclusion is the fact that Emperor Theodosius ordered the construction of a church on the site of Mount of Olives by Gethsemane, in Jerusalem in the 4th Century.
A century later and Titians legacy can still be witnessed in the 17th century Baroque. The Baroque is in many ways a time of decadent opulence, in which classical antiquity, the religious and the secular are all vying for attention. In terms of religious art it can be seen as a step back. Despite many technical improvements in form that can be observed, one could argue that the baroque was a general regression of beauty.
Rubens’ 1611 depiction of Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin Mary contrasted with Caravaggio’s 1602 depiction of the death of the Virgin Mary.
However, two exceptions stand out in this era, that of Rubens and Caravaggio, whose artistic genius cannot be disputed. Rubens of the Flemish Baroque and Caravaggio, his Italian contemporary.
Their styles contrast dramatically. Rubens occupies himself with the triumphant reception of Mary, Mother of God, into heaven by her Son Jesus, whereas Caravaggio decides to focus on the grief suffered by the Apostles upon her death.
Caravaggio hides the facial reactions of the apostles with shadow and hands aiming away tears. We empathise with there suffering, the scene is very human in nature. By means of dramatic mannerist poses, Rubens focuses on the awe and terror inspired in the apostles upon seeing Mary being assumed into heaven.
The Assumption of the Virgin Painting. Pierre Paul Prud’hon 1819
Titian’s and Rubens’ depiction would come to dominate the subsequent 17th and 18th centuries. While that period saw a certain stagnation of artistic expression, art was not completely static. Eventually decadent opulence would give way to the Gothic Revival.
The beginning of this return to tradition began in the early 1800s. Pierre Paul Prud’hon represents early efforts to transition from Rococo Baroque to Romanticism. His 1819 attempt to capture the Assumption in the imagination of the faithful incorporates elements of the Baroque art that surrounded him, like that of the choir of angels (specifically naked cherubs).
However in a significant break from contemporary Baroque mannerist drama he incorporates gold leaf and paints a more simple scene in which the Virgin Mary is the undisputed focus of the artwork.
The 19th century also saw a shift in artistic subject focus. The Assumption was often surpassed by and amalgamated into depictions of the Coronation Mary as Queen of Heaven. This development is also connected with the new appreciation of the Sovereignty of Christ.
Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld’s salty 19th century Assumption of Mary.
From Annunciation the Virgin Mary was the mother of Christ, at the foot of the Cross, during Christs’ crucifixion, she became the mother of all Catholics (John 19:26-27). In the tradition of the old testament, the mother of the King and not the wife of the King was referred to as the Queen of the realm.
Albrecht Dürer’s 1510 wood engraving “The Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin”, from series “The Life of the Virgin”.
Thus Mary was seen as the Queen of Christ and and Queen of all Catholics. Living a simple life on earth, having no earthly royal material splendour, she receives her crown upon being assumed into heaven and meeting once more her Son, Jesus.
Printing of copper and wood engraving also saw a rebirth in the 19th century in which artists like Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, inspired by artists of the German High Renaissance like Albrecht Dürer, sought to revive the genre.
Despite the countless technological advancements over the 300 years between Dürer and Carolsfeld, the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance still casted a shadow over the new industrial world.
With the exposed excesses of the scientific positivism that had resulted from the cold application of rationalism in the so-called “Enlightenment”, Marian devotion was once more in the rise, (even in Protestant northern Europe), and Christendom regained her insatiable appetite for Marian art.
In this environment the purity and loyalty of Mary were emphasised, virtues that the French revolution aimed to undermine with the constitution for the doctrine of the clergy (1790) and the cult of the supreme being (1794).
Louis Janmot’s L'Assomption de la Vierge 1845
In this era Mary is depicted wearing simple white robes, with modest conservative hand gestures (often joined in prayer) and accompanied by adult or adolescent fully clothed angels, as can be seen in Louis Janmot’s 1845 depiction of the Assumption.
This new rival of late Middle Ages and Renaissance art did not happened to materialise spontaneously. Individual artists congregated into clusters that soon developed into movements. The two most important of these movements were the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood of England and the Nazarene Movement (a group of Germanic artist working primarily in Rome out of the abandoned monastery of Sant’Isidoro a Capo le Case.).
Johann Friedrich Overbeck The Assumption of the Madonna 1855
Many of these artists were Catholic, motivated by their faith to use their talents to facilitate the devotion of the faithful. Others were Jews and Protestants who were attracted by the pursuit of true beauty.
Over the course of time most of these artists, whose day to day work involved the contemplation artistic tradition, began to become more and more inspired by the men whose work they sought to draw on. This led to many artists converting to Catholicism and commenting that their conversion was the fulfilment of their long quest for truth, undertaken via the median of art.
Notable names from England include; James Collinson, John Rogers Herbert and Augustus Pugin, and from the Germanic world; Friedrich Overbeck, Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow, Rudolph Schadow, Johannes Veit, (his brother) Philipp Veit, Franz Riepenhausen, (his brother) Johannes Riepenhausen, Friedrich Schlegel, Sofia Adlersparre, August Ahlborn and Amalie Bensinger.
This revival of traditional Catholic art is however by no means confined to the 19th century. Chris Lewis, an American artist who produces masterpieces under the title “Baritus Catholic”, has captured the imagination of Catholics and non-Catholics alike with his traditional digital artwork.
His 2020 depiction of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven constitutes one of the most artistically and theologically interesting representations in the genre. the Holy Spirit, symbolised by a white dove and a crowned resurrected Christ, with marks of the crucification, red and white robes (emphasising his simultaneously truly divine and truly human nature), lifts his mother Mary towards heaven with his right hand and prepares to present her with her crown as queen of heaven with his left hand.
The Virgin is adorned with a crown of twelve ths, a reference to Revelations 12:1, and is herself dressed in blue, symbolising her role as the ark of the new covenant (blue veil in the Temple of Jerusalem ) and white symbolising her perpetual purity and immaculate nature. Beneath her can be seen a bed of flowers, traditional symbolism of her Dormition (also used by Botticini and del Castagno of the 15th century).
The Church holds the Virgin Mary in high regard, she is the Theotokos, Mediatrix of all graces and Queen Assumed into Heaven, all in one. Devotion to her is not simple “dulia”, as we do with the saints, but rather “hyperdulia”. It is through her that we can best achieve “latria”, adoration for the one Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The Catholic Church never ceases to play down the role of Mary. For millennia She as taught “de Maria numquam satis”, “one can never say enough about Mary”. Mary always points us to her son Christ, thus we can proudly say, with the Pope, through Mary, to Jesus. Ever since Our Lady was assumed into heaven almost two millennia ago, artists have sought to, by the sanctification of their work, point us to Mary and therefore, to the saving Grace of which only Christ the redeemer can offer.
Niall Buckley,
August 2020