3-039-646 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Assumption of the Virgin; Spinola Hours, about 1510-1520. Additional Info:The Master of James IV of Scotland played with the relationship between text and image in his miniature of the Assumption of the Virgin. In most books of hours, the framed image is clearly separated from the text. But here the text, enclosed within a frame, has become part of the illusion created by the painter. In addition, the scene's rocky landscape flows unimpeded on all sides, undermining the purpose of the frame. The artist depicted a sequence of events in the landscape: on the left, the funeral procession of the Virgin; at the bottom, her open grave; and in the center, her glorious Assumption into heaven.