Virgin of the Apocalypse / Gaetano Gandolfi
About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 2009/1.537
- Title
- Virgin of the Apocalypse
- Artist
- Gaetano Gandolfi
- Artist Nationality
- Italian
- Artist Life Dates
- (1728 - 1781)
- Medium and Support
- oil on canvas, mounted on board
- Object Creation Date
- 1770-1780
- Object Creation Place
- Europe (continent)
- Italy (nation)
- Emilia-Romagna (region)
- Bologna (province)
- Bologna (inhabited place)
- Creation Place 1
- Europe (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- Italy (nation)
- Creation Place 3
- Emilia-Romagna (region)
- Creation Place 4
- Bologna (province)
- Creation Place 5
- Bologna (inhabited place)
- Style/Group/Movement
- Baroque
- Dimensions
- 20.96 cm x 17.15 cm (8 1/4 in. x 6 3/4 in.)
- Century
- 18th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Painting
- Physical Description
- A woman dressed in a rose-colored robe with a blue mantle and flowing white veil stands on a silver crescent moon among a bank of dark clouds. A halo of stars encircles her head. She clasps both hands before her. The heads of two putti peak out from beneath her mantle next to her left hip. Her right foot treads upon a long serpent that curves back upon itself with an open mouth.
- Subject Matter
- This exquisite painting shows the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in which she is raised body and soul to heaven upon the moment of her death. For devout Catholics of the period the event was an important promise of the resurrection of all humanity that would come at the end of time. The stars around her head and moon under her feet presage this resurrection, as these details are derived from the figure of the “woman clothed with the sun” described in the apocalyptic Book of Revelation from the Bible. The raising of the Virgin to heaven before the apocalypse also signals her privileged position in Catholic belief as the Queen of Heaven who would intercede with Christ for mercy on behalf of sinners. This painting evokes such keenly felt faith in the Virgin through its small size, which indicates that it was destined as an object for guiding personal prayers.
- Secondary Keywords
- associated concepts
- descriptors
- design elements
- earth sciences concepts
- figure- and animal-derived motifs
- image-making processes and techniques
- motifs
- natural element motifs
- painting and painting techniques
- painting techniques
- painting techniques by medium
- people and culture
- physical sciences concepts
- processes and techniques
- processes and techniques by specific type
- scientific concepts
- weather and related phenomena
- weather-related phenomena
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 1592 x 2111
- File Size
- 204 KB
- Record
- 2009/1.537
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2009-sl-1.537/2009_1.537.jpg
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- Full citation
-
"Virgin of the Apocalypse; Gaetano Gandolfi." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-2009-sl-1.537/2009_1.537.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 09, 2024.
