Shop art print and framed art The Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio

The Death of the Virgin is a painting by Michelangelo Merisi, known as Caravaggio. Commissioned from Caravaggio in 1601 for the chapel of the lawyer Laerzio Cherubini in the church of Santa Maria della Scala in Trastevere in Rome, the painting was probably not completed until 1605 or 1606"; but shortly after it was exhibited, it was refused by the monks of the church and replaced by a work with the same subject painted by Carlo Saraceni,". Although few people were able to contemplate the painting on the altar, it quickly became famous because it was immediately bought for the gallery of Duke Vincent I of Mantua through Rubens, his ambassador. Rubens had to organise a public exhibition at the artists' request in his residence in Rome, before sending it to Mantua. The painting subsequently passed into the collection of Charles I of England and then to Louis XIV through the banker Jabach. It is now in the Musée du Louvre. The subject is the death of Mary (mother of Jesus), probably surrounded by some of Christ's companions (perhaps Saint John and Saint Peter, and Mary Magdalene in the foreground). What is striking about the painting is its size (common in Caravaggio's work, to ensure that the size of the figures is close to reality, and when commissioned for an altarpiece). The composition is fairly broad: there is movement, even though the figures are practically motionless: a diagonal line runs from the left down to the Virgin's face, and then the eye rests on her hand before [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the classical period. It belongs to the italian renaissance style.

 

« The Death of the Virgin » is kept at Louvre, Paris, France.

 

Find the full description of The Death of the Virgin by Caravaggio on Wikipedia.