17th century Spanish school.

17th century Spanish school.
‘The Assumption of the Virgin.
Oil on canvas.
Measurements: 58 x 50 cm; 75 x 67 x 4 cm.

Spanish Baroque painting, representing the Assumption of the Virgin. Mary occupies the compositional centre. She joins her hands in prayer and looks towards God the Father, who bursts in with a break of glory. The archangels, belonging to different hierarchies, are distributed symmetrically on either side of the Virgin and help her to ascend to heaven. At the bottom, two lesser angels hold the crescent moon. The crescent is associated with the new moon, which in the Marian context symbolises purity and virginity.