Assumption of the Virgin - Nicola Filotesio

Assumption of the Virgin and Saints Laurence, Benedict, Mary Magdalen and Scholastica

Cola dell’Amatrice AKA Nicola Filotesio detto Amatrice - Painter

A.D. 1515

Triptyc

Oil on Wood Panel

Originally Located in the Church of S. Salvatore in Force, Ascoli Piceno

Città del Vaticano, Palazzi Vaticani, Pinacoteca Vaticana  

Vatican City 

Photo Credits: http://www.comune.amatrice.rieti.it/images/img/cola2.jpg

Not very much is known about Nicola Filotesio of Amatrice, painter of Assumption of the Virgin and Saints Laurence, Benedict, Mary Magdalen, and Scholastica.  Nicola Filotesio is known by a variety of names including: Cola Filotesio, Cola dell’ Amatrice, and Cola Amatricius.  The painter was born in Amatrice, “in the Papal State of Latium” (Wikipedia 2014), around either A.D. 1480 or 1489, as records vary.  He studied painting under Dionisio Cappelli and also exercised his talents as an architect and sculptor by designing churches (Comune di Amatrice 2009).  Filotesio painted using “elements of the Crivelli and Umbro-Roman cultures overlapped with the more specific aspects of Abruzzi culture” (Comune di Amatrice 2009).  When Filotesio traveled to Rome, he met Raphael and soon afterwards his painting shifted in style, and Filotesio produced his most mature works between 1519 and 1533 (Comune di Amatrice 2009).  The date of Nicola Filotesio’s death, like his birth date, is questioned.  It is likely that the painter/sculptor/architect died in A.D. 1547, but another date of 1559 is also recorded (Wikipedia 2014).

Assumption of the Virgin and Saints Laurence, Benedict, Mary Magdalen, and Scholastica depicts an important scene from Roman Catholic Church tradition.  Paintings of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary represent a moment when “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory” (Pius XII 1950).  Roman Catholics believe that the Virgin Mary was raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven in a manner similar to the Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus Christ, to whom she gave Earthly birth.

 

This triptyc painted by Nicola Filotesio is comprised of three panels in a gold-gilded wooden frame.  The Assumption of the Virgin occupies the largest and central canvas, while Saints Laurence and Benedict are to the viewer’s left.  Saints Mary Magdalen and Scholastica are on the canvas to the viewer’s right.  The primary message of this painting is contained in the central canvas showing the Virgin Mary ascending to Heaven.

In the central panel of the triptyc, one sees the Virgin Mary floating on clouds and surrounded by putti, or angels shaped like babies.  Below, in the background, is an idyllic village scene with green trees and a valley stretching into the distance.  The foreground of this piece is very busy, as it is filled with bodies and movement.  As in traditional paintings of the Assumption of the Virgin, the Twelve Apostles are gathered around the empty tomb of the Virgin Mary.  This scene takes place after the Virgin Mary has been resurrected from the dead and has ascended into Heaven.  In this piece, Nicola Filotesio painted all of the Apostles to appear very active.  All of the people standing in the foreground use hand motions and facial expressions to portray the mystery and excitement of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption.

Towards the left edge of the central panel, a mysterious red belt flies down from the Virgin Mary to be grasped by one of the Apostles who is waiting with his hands reaching up to receive the gift.  One immediately wonders what significance this symbol contains.  The red belt looks very out of place in the painting.

In Roman Catholic Church tradition, the red belt is known as the Girdle of Thomas.  The Girdle is a gift from the Virgin Mary to “Doubting Thomas,” one of Jesus’ original Twelve Disciples.  Mary bestows her red belt on Thomas so that he will believe and be able to prove the resurrection and ascension of the Virgin Mary.  In Assumption of the Virgin, the Apostle Thomas is seen reaching upwards to catch the belt cast down to him by the Virgin Mary.  The Girdle of Thomas is a common symbol found in paintings of the Assumption by various artists, especially those from Tuscany in Italy (Wikipedia 2014).

 

The girdle itself is symbolic of chastity, or abstinence from sexual intercourse.  Chastity is crucial to the story of the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus Christ.  The Virgin Mary conceived according to the power of the Holy Spirit and had never had sexual intercourse with her husband Joseph before Christ was born.  The Virgin Birth is important to the Christian faith because Christ shares none of his earthly father Joseph’s blood and thus He does not share in the sin passed down to all men born in the line of Adam.  By conception through a pure virgin, Jesus Christ was born completely without sin.

According to tradition, there are three possible accounts of how and why Thomas obtained the girdle of the Virgin Mary.  The first story states that the Apostle Thomas was returning to Jerusalem from missionary teaching in India, and missed the Assumption.  The Virgin Mary later appeared to Thomas and gave him the girdle, as a symbol and assurance of her own resurrection.  The second story states that Thomas “was miraculously transported from India to the Mount of Olives, to be present at the actual Assumption” and received the girdle of the Virgin Mary in the presence of the other eleven Apostles (Wikipedia 2014).  The third story places Thomas as the only eyewitness of the Virgin Mary’s Assumption, and “the Virgin left the belt as a proof for his story to the other apostles” (Wikipedia 2014).

Furthermore, the Girdle of Thomas is a connection to the Eastern Orthodox Church, which has a similar account of the Cincture of the Theotokos (the Theotokos being the Virgin Mary).  In the Eastern Orthodox variation of this tradition, the Apostle Thomas was delayed to the Virgin Mary’s burial in Jerusalem and requested, three days after the burial, to see the body.  However, the body of the Virgin Mary was missing when the Apostles uncovered her tomb.  It was after her body was found missing that the Virgin Mary appeared in the sky and offered Thomas her belt as a symbol of her resurrection (Wikipedia 2014).

The Girdle of Thomas is featured in many other paintings for the Roman Catholic Church.  The Assumption of Mary by the painter Palma il Vecchio depicts the Virgin Mary in the act of removing her girdle and handing it to the Apostle Thomas.

Photo Credits: Palma il Vecchio - Assumption of Mary - WGA16930" by Palma Vecchio - Web Gallery of Art:   Image  Info about artwork. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Palma_il_Vecchio_-_Assumption_of_Mary_-_WGA16930.jpg#/media/File:Palma_il_Vecchio_-_Assumption_of_Mary_-_WGA16930.jpg

The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches claim to have relics of the Girdle of Thomas/Cincture of the Theotokos.  Church tradition attests that the relic has medicinal properties, and one account records: “The Holy Belt has the unique grace to cure women's sterility as well as cancer patients, with a ribbon that has firstly been blessed on the Belt and is subsequently worn by the sterile women and patients” (Serfes 1999).

 

Understanding the context of Roman Catholic tradition in crucial when examining this painting.  Nicola Filotesio’s Assumption of the Virgin contains a symbolic reference to the Girdle of Thomas, an artifact in the Roman Catholic tradition.  However, some Roman Catholics, and certainly many Protestants, may no longer know the story of the encounter between the Apostle Thomas and the resurrected Virgin Mary.  The Girdle of Thomas is not mentioned in any of the four Gospels of the Christian faith, therefore knowledge of Roman Catholic Church tradition is necessary to contextually understand the significance of the red belt in Nicola Filotesio's painting.  The girdle itself is a symbol of sexual purity.  The Christian faith in Christ's birth through a virgin gives context to the girdle, which was meant to symbolize chastity when used in reference to Mary.

References

Comune di Amatrice. 2009. Cola Filotesio. N.D. N.D. Accessed March 24, 2015. http://www.comune.amatrice.rieti.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37&Itemid=48.

Pius XII, Pope. 1950. Munificentissimus Deus - Defining the Dogma of the Assumption. Rome, November 1.

Serfes, Father Demetrios. 1999. "The Holy Belt of the Theotokos." Serfes.Org. March 1. Accessed March 26, 2015. http://www.serfes.org/orthodox/beltoftheholytheotokos.htm.

Wikipedia. 2014. Cincture of the Theotokos. November 28. Accessed March 26, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cincture_of_the_Theotokos.

—. 2014. Girdle of Thomas. November 28. Accessed March 26, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girdle_of_Thomas.

—. 2014. Nicola Filotesio. May 23. Accessed March 24, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Filotesio.

Report by Austin D. Caldwell - 2015