On Wednesday this week Christians throughout the world celebrated the wonderful Feast of the Assumption of Our Lady. We in the west are used to seeing medieval pictures of her flying up towards Heaven. Yet paintings from the eastern tradition often have a different take on the words of Pope Pius XII “…when the course of her earthly life was finished (Mary) was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory…” (Munificientissimus Deus). We haven’t been able to trace the origin of this superb painting showing Our Lord coming down to bring her up to Heaven with him (well, surely he would have, wouldn’t he?) …. Can anyone help?
2 comments:
The only thing I can tell you is that this painting is from the Beuronese school of art, from the Benedictine abbey of Beuron in Germany. As the painters were all monks who shunned publicity, it is hard to determine who the actual painter was.
No luck with the painting I'm afraid, but I am aware that the traditions surrounding The Assumption vary in the Esatern church; with 14 days of fasting often preceding the actual feast of Mary's "Dormition", or "Falling Asleep". My friend Miriam tells me that in the Lebanon, women named after Mary throw open their doors in welcome and make cakes. And now she tells me.
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