Updated 14 April 2025
On Display Special Exhibition Wing
On Display
Special Exhibition Wing
The Assumption of the Virgin
| Date | ca. 1620-1625 |
|---|---|
| Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
| Size（cm） | 125 x 93 |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.2018-0003 |
This scene shows the Assumption of Mary, as God returns her spirit and corporeal body to heaven after her life on earth. The Twelve Apostles are arrayed around the empty tomb, unable to hide their surprise at the event. The painter, Pedro de Orrente, was a Spaniard who studied under Leandro Bassano in Venice at the beginning of the 17th century. He later returned to Toledo, where he created this work. The color palette used here clearly reveals the influence of El Greco, who also studied in Venice, while the sense of volume in Mary's body and the rough, unkempt visages of the Apostles indicate Orrente's strong interest in the newly emerging naturalistic painting style of his day. (Source: Gallery label, August 2020)
Provenance
Family of Marqués de Auñón since 19th century; D. Enrique Valera y Ramírez de Saavedra, marqués de Auñón (1899-1947); By direct inheritance to his son, D. Luis Enrique Valera y Muguiro; From whom Purchased by Galería Coll y Cortés, Madrid, 2018; purchased by NMWA, March 2019.
Bibliography
- 1950
- Nieto, Benedicto. La Asunción de la Virgen en el Arte. Madrid, 1950, p. 151, pl. 242.
- 1971
- Angulo Iñiguez, Diego. Pintura del siglo XVII. Madrid, 1971 (Ars Hispaniae, vol. XV), p. 68.
- 1972
- Angulo Iñiguez, Diego; Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E. Pintura toledana. Primera mitad del siglo XVIII, Madrid, Instituto Diego Velázquez, 1972 (Historia de la Pintura Española), pp. 235-36, 244, 328-29, no. 312, lám. 249.
- 2020
- Annual Bulletin of the National Museum of Western Art. No. 53 (Apr. 2018-Mar. 2019), 2020, Kawase, Yusuke. New Acquisitions. pp. 16-18, List of New Acquisitions. p. 22, col. repr.