The Assumption of the Virgin
XVII century. Grey-brown wash, Pencil ground, Pencil on paper.Not on display
In the lower half of the composition, the Apostles cluster around the empty tomb. Among them, Saint Peter appears on the left, holding the keys to Heaven in his right hand. On the right, another apostle – possibly Saint John the Evangelist – is kneeling and holding a book. In the upper half of the composition, the Virgin is represented in her Assumption by the angels.
The style of this composition vividly recalls that of Claudio Coello, since the ductus of the pen is almost identical to the one employed in a drawing at the National Library by Jiménez Donoso. The latter depicts the Virgin of Victory. Both drawings are undoubtedly by the same hand.
Jiménez Donoso painted an Assumption for the side altarpiece on the Gospel for the convent of San Basilio in Madrid, a work with which the Prado drawing may be associated.
In the museum’s old inventories, this drawing is attributed to Cano.
Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Catálogo de Dibujos. Vol. I. Dibujos españoles siglos XV-XVII, Madrid, Museo del Prado, 1972, p.133-134
