''Panciatichi Assumption'' (Italian: ''Assunta Panciatichi'') is a painting created c. 1522–1523 by the Italian Renaissance artist Andrea del Sarto. It is housed in the

Galleria Palatina The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present pa ...

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

History

The painting was commissioned by Bartolomeo Panciatichi (the Elder) for a private altar in the French church of Notre-Dame-de-Confort, in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

; however, when finished, it remained in Italy. It was subsequently acquired by Bartolomeo Panciatichi the Younger, the man later portrayed by

Agnolo Bronzino Agnolo di Cosimo (; 17 November 150323 November 1572), usually known as Bronzino ( ) or Agnolo Bronzino, was an Italians, Italian Mannerism, Mannerist painter from Florence. His sobriquet, ''Bronzino'', may refer to his relatively dark skin or r ...

. In 1526 Andrea del Sarto used the same composition in the '' Passerini Assumption'', now housed in the same museum. Later, Bartolomeo gifted the work to

Jacopo Salviati Jacopo Salviati (15 September 1461 – 6 September 1533) was a Florentine politician and son-in-law of Lorenzo de' Medici. Marriage On 10 September 1486, he married Lorenzo's daughter Lucrezia de' Medici, with whom he had ten children. The so ...

, who moved it to his villa del Poggio Imperiale. After all Salviati's possessions were confiscated by Duke

Cosimo I de' Medici Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second and last duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first grand duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Cosimo I succeeded his cousin to the duchy. ...

, the villa and all its content went to Paolo Giordano Orsini, husband of the duke's daughter

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was the Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion ...

. After several changes of property, including a period under the

Odescalchi The House of Erba-Odescalchi () and the House of Odescalchi are branches of an Italian noble family formed by the union of the Erba and Odescalchi families. The Odescalchi family was, since the election of Benedetto Odescalchi as Pope Innocent ...

, the villa returned to the

Medici family The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...

in 1602. In 1687 it was decided to the move the ''Assumption'' to

Pitti Palace The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

, as part of the collection of prince Ferdinando de' Medici. The panel was enlarged in that occasion, in order to mount the same frame of the '' Passerini Assumption'', also taken to the palace.

Description

The work depicts the theme of the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

with two registers: the lower one shows the apostles of Jesus crowding around

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

's empty sepulcher, looking at her while she ascends to heaven in a cloud in the upper part, surrounded by happy

putti A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and very often winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University ...

. Andrea del Sarto painted two kneeling apostles in the middle, according to the traditional pyramidal composition of holy Conversations, joining them to a circle of other apostles which can be seen, for example, in

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

's Oddi Altarpiece. The presence of a grotto at the right is unusual. Mary is looking upwards, surrounded by a celestial light . At her sides are two symmetrical groups of angels, whose tables perhaps were intended to contain the artist's signature, the donor's name and the execution year; another, in the middle, calls the apostles' attention towards Mary. Some of the characters were perhaps portraits of existing people. The apostle kneeling and looking towards the seer, for example, is sometimes identified as Andrea del Sarto's self-portrait.

Sources

External links

Page at the Pitti Museum website
{{Andrea del Sarto 1520s paintings Paintings in the Galleria Palatina Paintings by Andrea del Sarto category:Paintings of the Assumption of the Virgin Angels in art