Tudela - South Side - S03PP31

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  Tudela
South Side
S03PP31

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Dormition and Assumption of Mary

The episodes of the Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin Mary represented in this capital are derived from such apocryphal sources as the Legenda Aurea.
On the west and north sides of the capital we see some of the apostles gathered together, after they had laid the body of Mary in her grave. This scene on the north side is very seldom represented in Romanesque sculpture. It shows the most important evangelists of the teaching of Jesus: Peter, Paul and John. On the east side of the capital they stand together with the apostle Thomas, who had also doubted Mary’s resurrection, before the open grave of the Virgin, now filled with roses.
The main scene of the Assumption of Mary is placed on the south side of the capital. Here we see Mary being borne up to heaven in a mandorla, supported on clouds, and being crowned as Queen of Heaven by four angels.
The majestically and triumphantly described Assumption of Mary is the only scene in the cloister that is exclusively devoted to the Blessed Virgin. It is of particular importance, given that the church of Tudela is dedicated to the Virgin.
The relatively late period in which the cloister was built explains the iconographic use of apocryphal sources for the representation of the life of the Mother of God: a Marian iconography that was especially disseminated in the Gothic period.
The impost over the capital is ornamented with floral and geometric motifs; the latter are reminiscent of Solomon’s knots.

assumption virgin Mary Thomas apostle death