Egg tempera on wood panel, metal oklad

Let us examine this depiction of the last falling-asleep of Mary, whose body rests among the apostles. Her soul, as a little child, is delivered into the arms of Jesus.
Western sacred art abounds with images of the Assumption of the Virgin, and the Sacred Art Museum holds a remarkable Flemish panel (MASFF36), from the beginning of the 16th century, ascribed to Joos Van Cleve.

Yet, in the Orthodox world the equivalent of the Assumption of the Virgin is named Dormition of the Virgin and is also celebrated on the 15th of August. Since the first Council of Ephesus, attention was drawn to the highest dignity of the Virgin Mary, henceforth called “Theotokos” (The Mother of God).

The Catholic dogma declared by Pope Pius XII on 1 November 1950 reinforced this view of the higher status of Mary, defending that "having completed the course of her earthly life, (she) was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”