Our Lady of the Assumption

19th/20th century
North chapel (left of the main altar)
Church of the Assumption, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

This image breaks with tradition in several ways. There are no angels helping Mary to rise upward, just a small cloud. The circle of twelve stars is borrowed from Immaculate Conception images. Most strikingly, the landscape below the Virgin pictures the strip of land that leads from the church door to the Detroit River as it would have looked at the turn of the 20th century.

This painting is paired with the one of the Ascension in the south chapel, where Christ rises on a similar cloud from a similar landscape. Red roses frame the Ascension image, suggesting the blood of the Crucifixion, while the Assumption image is framed by Easter lilies. These traditionally symbolize the resurrection of Christ, but as lilies they can also be associated with the virginity of Mary.

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Read more about images of The Assumption.

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• Iconography of the Assumption
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Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.