MARIAThe death and subsequent heavenly assumption of Maria is a Catholic apocryphal addition to the New Testament, in which she plays quite a minor role and is only mentioned a few times. Although in this religion the physical death of the woman who is believed to have given birth to the son of God has not been dogmatically defined, it teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary “having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed with body and soul into heavenly glory”. In that way she seems to have followed her son’s example.
Unbelievable or not, whether it remains a matter of assumption into heaven, simply post-mortem disappearance or merely a ultimate private denial of the laws of gravity, many generations of painters were challenged in attempts to credibly represent the Virgin’s supposed final exit. If they succeeded as such might, perhaps, remain a matter of the right perspective to observe the miracle, or not.
Other painters on the same subject (click to view painting):
