Sketch for "The Assumption of the Virgin" (for St. James, Zbraslav, near Prague)?

Cleveland Museum of Art

Sketch for "The Assumption of the Virgin" (for St. James, Zbraslav, near Prague)?

Giovanni Battista PiazzettaLinkedCulture matchlcp-d75b7cd2e2f3

Date
c. 1744
Medium
oil on canvas
Culture
Italy, 18th century
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
132647

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

According to Roman Catholic theology, the Assumption is the movement of the Virgin Mary's body and soul into heaven. Thus the central figure of the Virgin dominates this scene of the Assumption, outstretching her arms and supported by two angels as she ascends into heaven. Below, saints surround the Virgin's tomb. St. Peter reaches for the foot of the ascending Virgin, suggesting a connection between heaven and earth. Giovanni Battista Piazzetta created this work as a sketch for his larger altarpiece commissioned in 1743 for the Church of St. James in Zbraslav, near Prague. The Assumption of the Virgin is a rare oil sketch by Piazzetta, and the larger composition adheres closely to this model. One difference between the sketch and the altarpiece is that the saints are illuminated more in the preliminary work. A divine light shines on the faces of the Virgin and the figures below her. Above the other figures, the Virgin appears remote and focuses on heaven as she looks upwards and beyond the painting's borders. The grouping of the figures in the center of this painting creates a vast surrounding space which fittingly gives this altarpiece sketch a sense of monumentality.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. N. Lester Farnacy
Provenance
1955-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio | UNtil 1955: Dr. and Mrs. N. Lester Farnacy, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art | ?: (Alessandro Morandotti [1909-1979] Rome) | 1950: Hans Dietrich Gronau [1904-1951] or Carmen Groneau [1910-1999], London1 | 1950: (Mrs. Tancred Borenius sale, Sotheby’s, London, June 7, 1950, lot 126, sold to Gronau) | 1948-1950: Anne-Marie Rüneberg Borenius, Coombe Bissett, Wiltshire, consigned to Sotheby’s | Until 1948: Tancred Borenius [1885-1948], London, by descent to his wife, Anne-Marie Rüneberg1

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