The Funeral of the Virgin 1460

Jean Fouquet painted 'The Funeral of the Virgin' with tempera and gold leaf on vellum. A procession dominates the middle ground, the figures rendered in deep blues and reds, conveying solemnity. Angels float above on clouds of white and gold in the upper register. The painting masterfully uses the interplay between the earthly and divine realms. The artist skillfully employs contrasting textures to enhance the scene. The angels and clouds above create a sense of ethereal lightness. Below, the sharp, crisp lines and details of the figures and their garments ground the composition, offering a visual metaphor for the relationship between spiritual aspiration and physical existence. This contrast underscores a central tension in religious art: the desire to represent the unrepresentable, to give form to faith through the material properties of art. As viewers, we are invited to consider the symbolic weight of these forms.