3-039-731 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

The Ascension of Christ; Leaf from the Laudario of Sant'Agnese, about 1340. Additional Info:This miniature depicts the Ascension, Christ's appearance on earth after the Resurrection when his apostles witness him being taken to heaven. Christ is shown as an object of veneration, like a cult statue, purposefully separated from the other figures in the narrative. All of the other participants direct their attention toward him, even the angels with instruments who appear along the sides. The two kneeling figures in the border below, who also gaze in adoration up at Christ, are members of the Compagnia di Sant'Agnese, a group of pious laypeople (both men and women) who met at the church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. The manuscript from which this leaf comes was a laudario, a hymnal used by the group in their public devotions.