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The Assumption of the Virgin
Francesco de Mura (Italian, Neapolitan, 1696–1782)
Pen and black ink, gray wash, over black chalk; 17 1/8 x 10 in. (43.6 x 25.4 cm)
Inscribed in graphite on verso: J. Jouvenet.
Purchase, Howard J. and Saretta Barnet, Mr. and Mrs. Carl L. Selden and Mrs. Barbara K. Caturani Gifts and Rogers Fund, 1971 (1971.243)

The most ambitious Assumption of the Virgin by de Mura is that painted in 1751 on the ceiling of the Nunziatella in Naples. This drawing may be an early preparation for the monumental fresco. The apparition of the Holy Trinity at the summit of the painting is lacking in the drawing, where there are fewer figures in the foreground. In the drawing the setting is architectural, while in the fresco the background is a landscape.

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    • The Assumption of the Virgin
    Francesco de Mura (Italian, Neapolitan, 1696–1782)
    Pen and black ink, gray wash, over black chalk; 17 1/8 x 10 in. (43.6 x 25.4 cm)
    Inscribed in graphite on verso: J. Jouvenet.
    Purchase, Howard J. and Saretta Barnet, Mr. and Mrs. Carl L. Selden and Mrs. Barbara K. Caturani Gifts and Rogers Fund, 1971 (1971.243)