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