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Overview

In this vivid image, Anthony van Dyck portrays the Virgin Mary gracefully ascending heavenward. With open arms and hands, she looks upward expectantly. Various putti surrounding her hold objects signifying Christ's Passion, among them the cross, the crown of thorns, and the veil. Another putto crowns her with a wreath of roses, signifying her role as intercessor for man's redemption. The word "rosary," the prayer beads used to aid in Catholic devotion, means "wreath of roses."

Stylistically, this tender devotional painting is characteristic of the religious images Van Dyck painted around 1628–1629 just after he returned to Antwerp from an extended stay in Italy. His expressive brushstrokes reflect his careful studies in Venice and Rome of Titian, while his depiction of the Virgin with her upward gaze is reflects his familiarity with the work of Guido Reni, whose works he also saw in Rome. The subject also harkens to a painting Van Dyck had executed in 1624–1625 in Palermo. In that altarpiece, Van Dyck depicted the plague saint Rosalie being borne up to heaven to intercede on behalf of plague victims. The Virgin is the patron saint of Antwerp and Van Dyck has here revised his earlier composition of Rosalie ascending in this tender image of the Virgin as intercessor for mankind.

Provenance

Private collection, Antwerp, by 1670 until at least 1717. P. van de Copello, Amsterdam; sold 26 January 1774 to John Hope [1737-1784], Amsterdam;[1] his estate, Amsterdam and London;[2] by inheritance to his youngest son, Henry Philip Hope [1774-1839], London;[3] by inheritance to his nephew, Henry Thomas Hope [1808-1862], London and Deepdene, near Dorking, Surrey;[4] by inheritance to his widow, Adèle Hope-Bichat [d. 1884], London and Deepdene; by inheritance to her grandson, Henry Francis Hope Pelham-Clinton-Hope, 8th duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme [1866-1941], London, Deepdene, and Clumber Park, Nottingham;[5] sold 1898 to (Asher Wertheimer, London) on joint account with (P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London and New York); sold 13 December 1898 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[6] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park; gift 1942 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1815
British Institution, London, 1815, no. 120.
1847
Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French, and English Masters, British Institution, London, 1847, no. 25, as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1865
Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, French, and English Masters, British Institution, London, 1865, no. 16, as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1881
Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1881, no. 132.
1891
South Kensington Museum, London, 1891-1898, no. 68.
1979
Van Dyck as Religious Artist, The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1979, no. 36, repro.
1990
Anthony van Dyck, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1990-1991, no. 47, repro.
1995
Van Dyck and His Age, The Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 1995-1996, no. 14, repro.

Bibliography

1913
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, and Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Pictures in the collection of P. A. B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early German, Dutch & Flemish Schools. Philadelphia, 1913: unpaginated, repro., as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1923
Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro., as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1931
Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 54, repro., as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1942
Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 7, as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1948
Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 77, repro., as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 311, repro, as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 46, as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 40, repro., as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 120, repro., as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 252, no. 322, color repro., as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 144, repro., as The Assumption of the Virgin.
1991
Roy, Alain. Theodoor van Thulden: Een Zuidnedderlandse barokschilder 1606-1669. exh. cat. s'-Hertogenbosch, Noordbrabants Museum; Strasbourg, Musées des Beauz-Arts, 1991-1992: 190-191, fig. 89.
1998
Apostolos-Cappadona, Diane. "Virgin/Virginity." In Encyclopedia of Comparative Iconography: Themes Depicted in Works of Art. Edited by Helene E. Roberts. 2 vols. Chicago, 1998: 2:905.
2004
Barnes, Susan J. Van Dyck: A Complete Catalogue of the Paintings. New Haven, 2004: III.37
2005
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Flemish Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2005: 75-79, color repro.
2020
Libby, Alexandra. “From Personal Treasures to Public Gifts: The Flemish Painting Collection at the National Gallery of Art.” In America and the Art of Flanders: Collecting Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and their Circles, edited by Esmée Quodbach. The Frick Collection Studies in the History of Art Collecting in America 5. University Park, 2020: 137.

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