Assumption of the Virgin (Orazio Gentileschi)
painting by Orazio Gentileschi
Assumption of the Virgin or Our Lady of the Assumption is a 1605-1608 oil on canvas painting by Orazio Gentileschi, now in the Turin City Museum of Ancient Art. It was formerly misattributed to Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli. An early work by Gentileschi, with its use of space and light to model the figures still drawing heavily on Caravaggio, it shows the Assumption of the Virgin surrounded by angels and with the upper register occupied by the three persons of the Holy Trinity.
Since the early years of the 17th century it was used to cover the historic wooden statue of the Madonna on the high altar of Santa Maria al Monte dei Cappuccini in Turin, which had been built by Charles Emmanuel I in 1585–1596. On high holy days the painting would be raised to show the statue.
“Assumption of the Virgin (Orazio Gentileschi)” enters the record as painting by Orazio Gentileschi. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Assumption, Virgin and Orazio can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Assumption of the Virgin (Orazio Gentileschi)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Assumption, Virgin and Orazio provides the most credible route into that argument.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 4, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q85833838. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1605, 1608, 1585 and 1596.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Assumption of the Virgin (Orazio Gentileschi)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Assumption of the Virgin (Orazio Gentileschi) primary sources, Assumption of the Virgin (Orazio Gentileschi) archive and Assumption research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Assumption of the Virgin (Orazio Gentileschi)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.