(Pisa 1556–1622)
The Assumption,
indistinctly dated lower centre: 1583. P.,
oil on canvas, 132 x 108 cm, framed

Provenance:
Private European collection

We are grateful to Pierluigi Carofano for endorsing the attribution after examination of the present in the original and for his help in cataloguing this lot.

The scene is depicted according to the classic iconography of the Assumption, with the figure of Mary rising toward Heaven while the astonished Apostles surround the tomb, which has been miraculously filled with flowers. According to Christian doctrine, Mary never actually died but merely fell asleep (the so-called ‘Dormitio Virginis’) before ascending to Heaven to join her Son. During this apparent sleep, her followers hid her body to prevent the inhabitants of Jerusalem, incited by Satan, from burning it. In the Transitus Sanctae Mariae, a narrative attributed to Saint John the Evangelist, the moment the Madonna was laid in the tomb, the Apostles were struck by a blinding light, and Mary was taken up to Heaven by angels. Strict adherence to sacred texts was a crucial requirement for works of art created during the Counter-Reformation period.

As Pierluigi Carofano points out, the composition and figures in this painting can be compared to works from Aurelio Lomi’s Genoese period, such as the Assumption in the Church of Santa Maria di Castello or The Gathering of Manna, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of New York (inv. no. 80.3.245a). Also typical of the artist are the vivid, shimmering colours.

According to Carofano, it is possible that this canvas was a preparatory sketch for the Assumption painted by Lomi for Santa Maria in Vallicella in Rome, a work noted in historic sources, but currently lost. The painter worked on decorating the chapel of the Pinelli family from Genoa (consecrated in 1587), creating both frescoes and an altarpiece, which Giovanni Baglione described in 1624 as an ‘Assumption of Our Lady, Ever Virgin, with the Apostles’. Moved to the sacristy in the 18th century and replaced by a painting by Cerrini with the same subject, Lomi’s altarpiece disappeared from the church before 1925 (see R.P. Ciardi, M.C. Galassi, P. Carofano, Aurelio Lomi: maniera e innovazione, Pisa 1989, pp. 182, 267).

Aurelio Lomi, the half-brother of Orazio Gentileschi (1563–1639), initially trained under his father, Giovanni Battista Lomi. He continued his education in Florence, working with prominent figures of Tuscan Mannerism, such as Bronzino and Cigoli. His early works also show the influence of Jacopo Ligozzi and the study of Veronese’s paintings.

After a brief stay in Rome, Lomi returned to Pisa in 1588, where he began working on significant commissions, including the fresco of The Banquet of Esther and Ahasuerus in the Camposanto Monumentale and various paintings for Pisa Cathedral. In 1597, he moved to Genoa, where his career reached its peak, especially through his works for the church. In 1604, Lomi returned to Pisa, continuing his work in Tuscany, where he created important religious paintings for Pistoia, Lucca, and Florence.