The Assumption of the Virgin
1548–1612
Medium
Red chalk, over charcoal, squared for transfer
Dimensions
8-11/16 x 7-1/16 in. (22.0 x 18.0 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1965
Accession Number
65.66.8
Tags
Art Historical Context
Bernardino Poccetti (1548–1612), a Florentine Mannerist painter, created *The Assumption of the Virgin* as a preparatory drawing, capturing the triumphant moment when the Virgin Mary ascends to heaven surrounded by angels—a central theme in Catholic iconography during the Counter-Reformation era. Active in late 16th-century Italy, Poccetti was renowned for his expansive fresco cycles in Tuscan churches, blending elegant figures with dramatic movement in the Mannerist tradition, which emphasized grace and complexity over Renaissance harmony. Executed in red chalk over charcoal on a modest 8-11...
About the Artist
Bernardino Poccetti · 1548–1612
Italian late Renaissance fresco painter, Florence. Comment on works: religious; in Pilkington he is credited with flower paintings