Assumption of the Virgin n.d.

Giacinto Calandrucci made this drawing in pen and brown ink with brown wash over black chalk, in Italy. It shows the Virgin Mary ascending to heaven surrounded by angels, while below, the apostles gather around her empty tomb. This image presents a window into the religious and cultural milieu of 17th-century Italy, when the Catholic Church was a central power. Religious art served not only as a form of worship but also as a means of communicating religious doctrine and reinforcing social norms. Calandrucci’s artwork, with its emphasis on the miraculous and the divine, reflects the Church's teachings. As art historians, we look at the visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations of the time, and we must also examine institutional records and religious texts to understand this artwork's social and institutional context. Only then can we truly appreciate the meaning of art as something that is contingent on social and institutional contexts.