VERONESE, Paolo
(b. 1528, Verona, d. 1588, Venezia)

Assumption of the Virgin

1586
Oil on canvas, 398 x 200 cm
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

Veronese represented the subject of the Assumption of the Virgin several times in his late works, with intimate and suggestive accents. The version in the Gallerie dell'Accademia in Venice was painted for the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. It depicts the ecstatic figures of the apostles looking on in devout wonder as the Virgin ascends into heaven, accompanied by two large winged angels and surrounded by a glory of cherubs that give off a great light, while the clouds on the right are rent to reveal a celestial group of angels playing music.