The Assumption of the Virgin Mary

Readings for the Feast of the Assumption
 

The Ark of the Covenant, thought to be lost at the time of the Babylonian Conquest, is as it turns out, not so lost. Read Revelation 11:19 and following. Learn about the scriptural basis for the dogma of the Assumption.

The Catechism

199. In what way is the Blessed Virgin Mary the eschatological icon of the Church? Looking upon Mary, who is completely holy and already glorified in body and soul, the Church contemplates in her what she herself is called to be on earth and what she will be in the homeland of heaven.

Music "Ave Maria" performed by Gina McCann and Russ Ronnebaum pursuant to One License A-726294.

The Art

The Assumption of the Virgin
ca. 1337–39

Bernardo Daddi Italian

 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 952

Bernardo Daddi may have trained in the Florentine workshop of Giotto, a pivotal figure in the history of European painting. Daddi fused Giotto’s grandeur and monumentality with a refined grace and lyricism. It has been suggested that while Daddi was responsible for the design of this panel, it was executed by a leading member of his workshop. The panel is likely the upper half of an important altarpiece painted for a chapel in the Cathedral of Prato, near Florence, which houses the highly venerated girdle, or belt, of the Virgin Mary. As evidence of her Assumption, the Virgin lowers her girdle to St. Thomas, whose hands are visible at the panel’s lower edge and who was depicted in the missing lower section of the painting.