Not on display

Christ ascending

Fresco
ca. 1520-1550 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This fresco fragment, depicting Christ surrounded by angels ascending into heaven, once formed the upper part of a lunette depicting the Ascension of Christ. It was originally in the Oratory of Santa Maria della Passione, next to San Ambrogio, Milan. Painted in the style of the Milanese painter and draughtsman Bernardino Luini (born ca 1480–85; died before 1 July 1532) it probably dates to the second quarter of the sixteenth century.

The Oratory of Santa Maria della Passione was sold to the Administration of San Ambrogio in 1812 and turned into a cloth factory. In 1869 it passed into private ownership and it was at this time that the main scenes of the wall decoration were detached. Part of the series re-appeared in England in 1898 when a group of nine fragments were sold through Fosters' sales rooms. Three of these were purchased by the South Kensington Museum, now the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleChrist ascending (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Fresco transferred to canvas
Brief description
Fresco fragment transferred to canvas; lunette depicting the Ascension of Christ; originally located in the Oratory of Santa Maria della Passione, Milan; follower of Bernardino Luini; ca 1520 - 1550
Physical description
Fresco
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 259cm
  • Estimate width: 411.4cm
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800, C.M. Kauffmann, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1973
Marks and inscriptions
VIRI GA[LILAEI] QUID STATIS ASPICIENTES IN [CAELUM]/ HIC IESUS QUI [ASSUMPTUS EST A] VOBIS IN CAELUM (Inscribed on scrolls held by angels)
Object history
Purchased by V&A, along with two related fragments (360 and 361-1898), from Fosters' sale rooms in 1898
Subjects depicted
Literary referenceBible - Acts I.II
Summary
This fresco fragment, depicting Christ surrounded by angels ascending into heaven, once formed the upper part of a lunette depicting the Ascension of Christ. It was originally in the Oratory of Santa Maria della Passione, next to San Ambrogio, Milan. Painted in the style of the Milanese painter and draughtsman Bernardino Luini (born ca 1480–85; died before 1 July 1532) it probably dates to the second quarter of the sixteenth century.

The Oratory of Santa Maria della Passione was sold to the Administration of San Ambrogio in 1812 and turned into a cloth factory. In 1869 it passed into private ownership and it was at this time that the main scenes of the wall decoration were detached. Part of the series re-appeared in England in 1898 when a group of nine fragments were sold through Fosters' sales rooms. Three of these were purchased by the South Kensington Museum, now the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Associated objects
Bibliographic reference
Kauffmann, C.M., Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, I. Before 1800. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973, pp. 175-6, cat. no. 216.
Collection
Accession number
359-1898

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Record createdMarch 21, 2006
Record URL
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