The Assumption of the Virgin 1822

Editor: Here we have Merry Joseph Blondel’s “The Assumption of the Virgin,” a pencil drawing from 1822 housed here at the Met. I'm struck by how it feels both grand and intimate, epic but rendered with such delicate lines. It's a Romantic vision rendered in classical lines, the kind of tension that just gets my motor running, but can you tell me what *you* see in this piece? Curator: Ah, Blondel's Assumption! You know, I sometimes imagine Blondel whispering to himself as he drew this, channeling a Renaissance master, maybe even Raphael, but then adding this very 19th-century emotional current. It’s like a secret language he’s inventing just for us. Notice how the Virgin ascends not into a bright, divine light, but almost dissolves into a soft, earthly mist – attended by, I always think, the most tenderly rendered angels this side of Fragonard. It speaks to this deeply human yearning for the divine. What do you think about that yearning in relation to how art and religion relate, specifically here? Editor: I love the dissolving detail! So, if we imagine this drawing as evidence, are we perhaps seeing religion shifting from strict dogma to something more personally felt? Like a quiet revolution happening, even in art? Curator: Precisely! And the guy down below, practically swooning at the sight… is that reverence, or utter amazement? Perhaps even, dare I say, a touch of… desire? Art at its most potent leaves things beautifully unresolved. And perhaps that is the point - we are called to question the real meaning of these scenes in light of modernity. Editor: Hmm, unresolved feelings *and* delicate mist… it's all just… perfectly Romantic. I definitely appreciate that insight regarding desire complicating the devotion shown in this academic piece. I guess it isn't quite as simple as the 'assumption' as faith or ascension. Thanks! Curator: And thank *you* for making me look anew! It's in those whispered interpretations where the real art resides.