Assumption of the Virgin

The Assumption of the Virgin is a fresco by Rosso Fiorentino in the Chiostro dei Voti of the Basilica della Santissima Annunziata in Florence. According to Vasari, it was painted quickly between 1513 and 1514, in time for the feast of September 1514, when Pope Leo X granted the basilica the title of perpetual jubilee. The monks had recommended the young painter through his master Andrea del Sarto, who painted most of the lunettes in the cloister. By 1515 the friars were dissatisfied and asked Rosso to repaint the fresco, which he agreed to do. The composition has two tiers: below, the Apostles and a crowd gathered around Mary's sarcophagus; above, the heavenly vision of the Virgin in glory, surrounded by angels. This arrangement follows a Last Judgement by Fra Bartolomeo and Mariotto Albertinelli, though Raphael's Oddi Altarpiece may also have been a model. Rosso adds personal touches: broad, lightly defined faces among the Apostles, juxtaposed complementary colours, and a closed circle of Apostles from which two tangents extend to the sides. A touch of illusionism appears where the hem of an Apostle's cloak falls beyond the edge of the fresco.

Painter

Rosso Fiorentino

Date

1517

Medium

fresco

Dimensions

385 × 337 cm

Museum

Santissima Annunziata, Florence

Genre

religious art

Depicts

Mary, woman

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