The Death of the Virgin (fragment)

myminifactory

This is a fragment of a marble relief portraying the moment when the Virgin's life came to an end. The scene of the Virgin Mary's passing is a recurring theme in Western Christian art, equivalent to the Dormition of the Theotokos in Eastern Orthodox iconography. As the doctrine of the Assumption gained acceptance within the Roman Catholic Church from the Late Middle Ages onward, this depiction became less common. Although that doctrine leaves unresolved whether Mary was alive or deceased when her body was taken up into Heaven, she is typically shown as still living in art. The Bible makes no mention of the end of Mary's life, yet a tradition dating back to at least the 5th century asserts that the twelve Apostles were miraculously summoned from their distant missionary endeavors to be present at her passing, and it is this scene that is usually depicted – with the apostles gathered around her bed. The fragments originate from the arch field of the right side portal of the old façade of the Florentine Cathedral, which was destroyed in 1587. They were badly damaged in May 1945