Italian school; 18th century. "Transitus of the Virgin. Oil on canvas. Antique re-colouring. Presents restorations. It conserves a period frame. Measurements: 63 x 49 cm; 76 x 61 cm (frame). Displaced from the centre of the scene, rests the figure of the virgin with closed eyes and lying on a bed. The presence of the afflicted apostles at the feet of the figure of the Virgin and the appearance of the angels indicate that this is a representation of the passage of the Virgin. This theme became popular during the Baroque period and later, due to the Counter-Reformation, which led the Christian religion to resort to various passages from the life of the Virgin. Particularly notable in the work is the great magnificence of the architecture that forms the scene. Byzantine art is the originator of the theme of the Passage of the Virgin, and with it, it became extremely popular, even enjoying a fixed place in the decoration of church interiors, at the foot of the church, a place later occupied by the representation of the Last Judgement. This Byzantine model spread throughout the West around the year 1000, so that it soon became the most common way of representing not only the passage of the Virgin's soul from earth to heaven, but also that of the body, i.e. the theme of the Assumption. For the depiction of the passage of the Virgin, artists drew inspiration from apocryphal sources, as there is no mention of it in the canonical Gospels. To designate the death of the Virgin, the Byzantines speak of dormition or "koimesis", which means to sleep, to rest in the Lord. In the West, on the other hand, the word "transit" is used to indicate that her death is not real, but the passage to eternal life.