The Assumption of the Virgin

This canvas repeats the composition of a modello panel by Rubens, in the Royal Collection. The upper half of the latter was used for the large altarpiece for the Mary Chapel of the Antwerp Jesuit church, (now, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum) while the lower part was used, with a few adaptations, for the altarpiece of the Brussels Carmelite church (now Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts). After examining the present painting, Wilhelm Suida concluded that several of the figures were 'undeniably painted by Rubens himself... this variant originated in Rubens' studio about 1620, under the master's supervision and in essential parts by his own hand' (written communication, 18 September 1943).