Death of the Virgin

About the Artwork

Christ’s apostles visit the Virgin upon her deathbed. Saint Peter, wearing white robes and the papal tiara, performs funerary rites, reciting prayers and sprinkling holy water on the Virgin’s body. Above, angels engraved upon the golden background celebrate the assumption of the Virgin heavenward. Once joined to another panel titled The Death of Saint Clare (National Gallery, Washington, D.C.), this double representation of saintly deaths may have been used in funerary services in the convent of Clarissan nuns for which it was made.

Provenance

1924: (Walter Schnackenberg, Munich, Germany) 1934: (Julius Boehler, Munich, Germany) -1936: (Jacob Hirsch, New York, NY) 1936-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Exhibition history

The Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition: The Official Art Exhibit of the Great Lakes Exposition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 26-October 4, 1936). The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). Gothic Art 1360-1440. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 6-September 15, 1963). Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991). Sacred Gifts and Worldly Treasures: Medieval Masterworks from the Cleveland Museum of Art. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (October 30, 2007-January 20, 2008); Frist Art Museum, Nashville, TN (February 13-June 7, 2009). Master of Heiligenkreuz. Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Wien, Austria (organizer) (March 26-June 30, 2019).

Quick Overview

Artist: Master of Heiligenkreuz (Austrian)
Date: c. 1400
Medium: tempera and oil with gold on panel
Dimensions: Image: 66 x 53.3 cm (26 x 21 in.); Framed: 74 x 61.5 x 4.5 cm (29 1/8 x 24 3/16 x 1 3/4 in.); Unframed: 71 x 54 cm (27 15/16 x 21 1/4 in.)
Type: Painting
Classification: Painting
Department: Medieval Art
Credit line: Gift of the Friends of The Cleveland Museum of Art in memory of John Long Severance
Accession no.: 1936.496

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.