Description

This delicate pair of tempera paintings, by an unknown artist, can be traced back to the Piedmontese painting in the mid-nineteenth century. Although the painters of this school at the time were all devoted to the study of a realistic, honest landscape which – following the example of Corot – abandoned all narrative intentions in its scenes, here we find ourselves admiring two biblical events, in complete contrast to the pictorial production of the time. Perhaps the result of a private or ecclesiastical commission, the reference to the Piedmontese school is highlighted by the use of very soft, almost diluted colours, which recall the atmospheres of Antonio Fontanesi and Angelo Beccaria. The protagonist of these two scenes is the Virgin, portrayed in two emblematic moments of her life: in the first painting, she is fleeing from Nazareth to Egypt to escape Herod’s persecution; in the second painting, the protagonist, surrounded by the apostles, is joined by Christ who will accompany her to heaven. Death is the result of original sin, and Mary, deprived of it, cannot die. Therefore, her passing is described in the texts as a falling asleep, a Dormitio, which determines her assumption into eternal life and the incorruptibility of her body after her passing.