Sketch for "The Assumption of the Virgin" (for St. James, Zbraslav, near Prague)? (c. 1744): Art, History and Details

Sketch for "The Assumption of the Virgin" (for St. James, Zbraslav, near Prague)? (c. 1744) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (Italian, 1682–1754).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

According to Roman Catholic theology, the Assumption is the movement of the Virgin Mary's body and soul into heaven. Thus the central figure of the Virgin dominates this scene of the Assumption, outstretching her arms and supported by two angels as she ascends into heaven. Below, saints surround the Virgin's tomb. St. Peter reaches for the foot of the ascending Virgin, suggesting a connection between heaven and earth. Giovanni Battista Piazzetta created this work as a sketch for his larger altarpiece commissioned in 1743 for the Church of St. James in Zbraslav, near Prague. The Assumption of the Virgin is a rare oil sketch by Piazzetta, and the larger composition adheres closely to this model. One difference between the sketch and the altarpiece is that the saints are illuminated more in the preliminary work. A divine light shines on the faces of the Virgin and the figures below her. Above the other figures, the Virgin appears remote and focuses on heaven as she looks upwards and beyond the painting's borders. The grouping of the figures in the center of this painting creates a vast surrounding space which fittingly gives this altarpiece sketch a sense of monumentality.

Object facts

• Title: Sketch for "The Assumption of the Virgin" (for St. James, Zbraslav, near Prague)?
• Date: c. 1744
• Creator attribution: Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (Italian, 1682–1754)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 85 x 51.5 x 6.5 cm (33 7/16 x 20 1/4 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 71.6 x 38.2 cm (28 3/16 x 15 1/16 in.)
• Collection: P - Italian 18th Century
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1955.165

Collection credit

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. N. Lester Farnacy

Further reading listed by the museum

• Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. June 7, 1950.
• Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. June 7, 1950.
• Sotheby's (Firm). Old Master Drawings and Paintings. 1950.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.