Assumption of the Virgin

   The moment when the Virgin Mary is carried up to heaven after her Dormition. In art, the scene usually includes her tomb, with the apostles witnessing in awe as she ascends. This is how Titian depicted the event in 1516-1518 in his rendition for the Church of Santa Maria dei Frari, Venice; Andrea del Sarto for the Church of San Antonio dei Servi in Cortona (1526-1529); and Peter Paul Rubens for the Cathedral of Antwerp (1626). Nicolas Poussin omitted the apostles (c. 1626; Washington, National Gallery), instead including three putti who throw flowers into the Virgin's tomb.

   See also Assumption of the Virgin, Parma cathedral.