Description
Death of the Virgin is a monumental painting Caravaggio made around 1604–1606 for a chapel in Rome: the Virgin Mary lies on a bier in a plain red dress, her feet bare, the apostles stand around her in mourning, some hiding their faces, Mary Magdalene sits weeping on a chair in the foreground, and a huge red curtain hangs above the scene. The original, oil on canvas, is 369 cm high and 245 cm wide and now belongs to the Louvre in Paris. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oil on canvas in 6 portrait sizes, from 90 x 130 to 160 x 230 cm, or to your own measurement, and we send you a photograph of the finished work before dispatch.
| Title: | Death of the Virgin |
| Other titles: | Morte della Vergine · Der Tod Mariens |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) |
| Year painted: | c. 1604–1606 |
| Original size: | 369 cm x 245 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Baroque, tenebrism |
| Located at: | Musée du Louvre, Paris |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 6 sizes or made to measure |
Death of the Virgin – Caravaggio
What does Death of the Virgin show?
In a dark, almost empty room lies the Virgin Mary in a simple red dress, her head fallen to one side and one arm hanging over the edge of the bier. Her feet are bare and spread, and her body is swollen, as the bodies of the dead are. Around her gathers a group of apostles, painted nearly life-size.
The men stand close together, and each grieves in his own way. Some cover their faces with their hands; others bend over the dead woman. In front, on a low chair, sits Mary Magdalene, bent forward with her face in her hands. A copper basin stands on the floor beside her.
The upper part of the canvas is filled by a vast blood-red drape. Light comes in from the side and falls most strongly on Mary’s face and hands. Only a thread-thin halo, barely visible above her head, marks her holiness.
What is the meaning of the scene?
The painting shows the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the grief of his disciples. Most painters of the time showed her at the Assumption, alive and surrounded by angels. Caravaggio paints death itself instead, with no angels and no heaven opening above.
Nobody wails here; the sorrow lies in bowed heads and hidden faces. The viewer steps into a silent room where something final has just happened.
Why is this painting so famous?
Caravaggio dropped almost every sign that painters had used to stress the Virgin’s holiness. He showed a body that is truly dead, with a limp arm and swollen feet, and the work caused a stir in Rome. The early biographers Giovanni Baglione and Gian Pietro Bellori put its rejection down to the way the Virgin looked.
Peter Paul Rubens praised it as one of Caravaggio’s best works. According to Wikipedia it is also the last major Catholic artwork to show Mary plainly dead.
The story of the commission and of the canvas’s later travels is told in the Wikipedia article (in English).
Where is the original, and how did it get there?
The original hangs in the Louvre in Paris. It was commissioned by the papal lawyer Laerzio Cherubini for his chapel in the Carmelite church of Santa Maria della Scala in Trastevere, Rome. The fathers of that church turned it down as unfit and put up a work by Carlo Saraceni, a follower of Caravaggio, in its place.
On Rubens’s recommendation it was bought by Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. His ambassador Giovanni Magni showed it briefly in his house on the Via del Corso from 1 to 7 April 1607, and copying it was strictly forbidden.
The duke’s collection was sold to Charles I of England in 1627. After the king’s execution the painting went to Everhard Jabach at the sale of 1649, and in 1671 Jabach sold it to Louis XIV. After the French Revolution it became state property, and today visitors see it in the Louvre.
Death of the Virgin or another Caravaggio?
In scale, sobriety and naturalism Death of the Virgin recalls The Entombment of Christ in the Vatican. In both the figures are close to life-size, and both are about a farewell.
If you want a smaller, more private scene, the Magdalene sits alone at the centre of Penitent Magdalene. The Flagellation of Christ brings more movement and tension, while The Incredulity of Saint Thomas catches the moment between doubt and faith.
More famous Caravaggio paintings that we paint by hand are on the Caravaggio page. Of them all, this canvas painting is the tallest and most solemn, and it wants a room with a high ceiling.
How does our painter paint your Death of the Virgin?
Each version is started only after you order, and built up layer by layer in oil on canvas. The painter first lays in the dark ground and the large areas of colour: the red curtain above, the red dress in the middle, the dark robes of the apostles all around.
Then he builds the light. He places it first on Mary’s face, hands and feet, then on the nape of the Magdalene’s neck in the foreground, and last on the hands and heads of the apostles. The thin halo, the folds of cloth and the gleam of the copper basin come at the end.
Brushwork stays visible on the surface of this Caravaggio reproduction, which a print can never offer. In the evening the red curtain looks deeper and darker than at noon, because the colour is not printed but laid on in several layers. That is why an oil painting reproduction like this one changes a little through the day.
Which size for which wall?
In short: 90 x 130 or 98 x 152 cm for a hallway or the wall beside a door, 113 x 165 or 127 x 185 cm above a sofa, a sideboard or a dining table, and 140 x 210 or 160 x 230 cm for a tall wall, a staircase or a gallery.
You can pick from 6 portrait sizes (width x height): 90 x 130, 98 x 152, 113 x 165, 127 x 185, 140 x 210 and 160 x 230 cm. The original is huge, so the nearest size is the largest, 160 x 230 cm, and even that is 85 cm narrower and 139 cm shorter.
As a painting for the living room with a high ceiling, 127 x 185 cm works well, because the upright format emphasises the height of the room. Keep the bottom edge 20 to 30 cm above the backrest so that the Magdalene in the foreground does not vanish behind the cushions.
Can I choose another size or a frame?
Yes. The original is roughly 2 : 3 in proportion, so it moves easily to another upright size without cutting off the curtain at the top or the basin at the bottom. Tell us the width and height and we will come back with a price and a date.
Your painting leaves us rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed; our workshop in Slovenia handles the stretching and the framing. You choose the frame in our 3D app, which serves only for picking frames; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A dark walnut frame or a patinated gold one suits the red curtain and dress. A lighter gold moulding brings out the light on Mary’s face even more.
How is the painting delivered?
We start as soon as your order arrives, and within 15 to 45 working days the painting is ready to go. First we send you a photograph so you can check the details; if you want a change, we make it. There are no customs within Slovenia and the rest of the EU, and our returns policy applies.
Death of the Virgin is a serious, quiet subject, which makes it a fitting gift for someone who loves Baroque painting. If you would rather the recipient chose the size, give a wall art voucher.
Frequently asked questions
Where can the original be seen?
At the Louvre in Paris, where it belongs to the French state collection.
Who is lying on the bier?
The Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus; the apostles and Mary Magdalene mourn around her.
Will I receive a print?
No. Our painter makes a hand-painted copy in oil on canvas, and starts it only once you have ordered.
What are the dimensions of the original?
It is 369 cm high and 245 cm wide, with figures close to life-size.
Does it suit a bedroom?
The scene is serious and sad, so we suggest a living room, library, hallway or staircase instead.
Which size fits above a 220 cm sofa?
Above a sofa that wide, choose 113 x 165 or 127 x 185 cm.
Why did the church reject the painting?
The fathers found it unfit, and early biographers blamed the way the Virgin is painted.
How long does it take to make?
15 to 45 working days from your order; the photograph of your finished painting arrives before dispatch.
- Subject: the dead Virgin Mary in a red dress on a bier, the grieving apostles around her, Mary Magdalene weeping in front and a red curtain above.
- Original: c. 1604–1606, oil on canvas, 369 x 245 cm, Musée du Louvre, Paris.
- Ours: hand-painted in oil on canvas, 6 portrait sizes from 90 x 130 to 160 x 230 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the church it was painted for turned it down, yet Rubens counted it among Caravaggio’s finest works.
