Assumption of the Virgin

Assumption of the Virgin, undated and at the Courtauld Gallery in London, depicts Mary's bodily ascent into heaven at the end of her earthly life — a subject that gave Baroque painters their most expansive opportunity for dynamic compositional invention. The Assumption allowed figures to surge upward through clouds, with apostles gazing up from below and angels surrounding the ascending Virgin above, providing exactly the kind of illusionistic upward movement that defined Baroque ceiling painting translated onto canvas. The Courtauld's collection of this work gives it particular visibility in the British art world. Solimena painted multiple Assumption compositions over his career, each offering fresh solutions to this compositionally demanding subject.

Assumption compositions are organized on a strong vertical axis with the Virgin as the ascending focal point. Solimena places apostle figures in the lower zone with upward gestures that guide the viewer's eye toward the triumphant heavenly upper register, bathed in warm golden light.