The Assumption of the Virgin, 1455-1456 by Neri di Bicci (1419-1493)
Yasir Al Kawaz #101014297
ARTH 1100 Art and Society: Prehistory to the Renaissance
Stéphane Roy (T.A : Victoria Nolte)
This commission was created for the Spini family chapel by Neri di Bicci. It was made in Florence, Italy on 1467 but was commissioned in 14551. The altarpiece includes a predella, the family coat of arms, a horizontal panel just below the painting with three scenes from Virgin Mary's life, and the entire artwork was enclosed in a convoluted gilded frame.2 This piece's subject matter is in a Biblical sense, that is, the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. This Assumption was the subject matter of a number of Neri's paintings as we are informed that he repeated this theme several times following his first and most important altarpiece. Besides, this motif was and is still called the "Madonna Della Cintola"3,4 that represents the Virgin's corporeal assumption into Heaven.
This portrait represents a woman ,possibly the Virgin Mary, seated on a cloud and is surrounded by nuns with wings and twelve men standing around an empty tomb looking up at her. As such, it represents a Biblical analogy and the community's or the Spini family's beliefs. It has also been stated that this piece was done to draw people's attention to "the heyday when “the Spini's” "were in power."5 So, it can be said that it also represents their culture and heritage as it would remind people of the Spini family's longevity and past glory.
The art has a fundamental storyline that most of us, if not all, are familiar with. The apostle Thomas, otherwise known as the Doubting Thomas since he refused to believe in Jesus Christ's Resurrection until he touched his wound, also doubted the Assumption of the Virgin. This panel demonstrates the Virgin Mary lowering what was thought to be her belt from Heaven to Thomas to convince him that she had ascended into Heaven following...