3. Mary's Death-Eastern Artists

he Eastern Churches speak of the Blessed Virgin's entrance into heaven as her KOIMESIS, her falling asleep.   All versions of this theme follow a highly uniform pattern as does this contemporary rendering.

Mary lies on a richly decorated bier.  The apostles in mourning are arranged on either side.  Peter, in front at the left, swings a censer.  Opposite him, on the right stands Paul.  Christ in glory dominates the center.  In his hands he holds the soul of his Mother, depicted as a small doll-like figure swaddled in white.  Angels form a choir  around the mandorla that encircles Christ.  At the top hovers a six-winged seraph, member of the highest choir of angels.  Behind the Apostles are three bishops, disciples of the Apostles, traditionally named Dionysius, Hierotheus and Timotheus.  They are said to have been the first to bring to others the news of Mary's Assumption.  In back of them are several women mourners.  The lighted candle in front of the bier is a sign of the desire to prolong life.

 

 

`ur second example, much simplified, is a Byzantine ivory from the second half of the tenth century.  Here Christ holds Mary's soul aloft, giving it to the two angels above Him.  This plaque is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

 

 

rom the first half of the fifteenth century comes this Russian icon, a product of the Tver School of Painting.  Because of the beautiful blue background, it is known as the "Heavenly Blue Dormition."  An unusual feature: In the sky we see the apostles, each accompanied by an angel, arriving on clouds to be present at Mary's death.  The icon is now at the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow. 

 

 
 rom the second half of the fifteenth century we have this icon from Crete.  It appears to have been done by two artists: one working in the Byzantine style as seen in the figures at the left; the other, in the more naturalistic Western style, visible in the varied poses of those at the right.  A further detail to be noted: the seraph holds two standards, such as one sees in pictures of Roman military units.
n interesting variant is this work from Romania, a hinterglass icon painted by Pavel Zamfir in 1897.  All the Apostles are grouped behind Mary's bier.  In the center are the three great hierarchs of the Eastern Church: Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and Gregory Nazianzus.  Christ is pictured in half figure on a cloud as he welcomes Mary  into heaven, holding her hand.  The piece is part of the Jianu Collection in the Museum at Oltenita, Romania.

his piece is a slightly modified version of a thirteenth century icon in the Stavronikita Monastery at Mount Athos.  Stavronikita is the youngest and smallest of the twenty monasteries of Athos, the Holy Mountain located on a peninsula in northeastern Greece.  In the half circle at the top of the icon, two angels prepare to receive Mary's soul.
ur last version is from Ethiopia.  Here the Apostles are arranged in groups of five with two apostles pictured at the bottom of the picture.  The two angels in front carry both a censer and a cross.  The two at the back carry swords and palm branches, symbols indicating the presence of the heavenly armies at the end of Mary's earthly life.  This icon belongs to the Ethiopian College at the Vatican.

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