Zavesa of the Dormition of the Theotokos

May 5 1485

Embroidered in golden, silver and coloured silk threads, on a background of blue silk. The original background can be observed in the borders and the letters that form the inscriptions.

This iconographic scene illustrates the Assumption of the Holy Virgin, coinciding thus with the dedication day of Putna Monastery. Placed in an architectural scenery, with crennellated walls and red tiled-roofed edifices - inspired maybe by the very walls and edifices of Stephen the Great’s foundation, this composition unfolds around a somptous catafalque. There, Virgin Mary lies, dressed in a golden maforion and a long chestnut coloured tunic, arms crossed on her chest, her haloed head resting on a red pillow embroidered with golden thread. In the upper register, under a Gothic arch, reminescent of a church door, is Jesus, clad all in gold, with a cross-like nimbus around His head. He receives His mother’s soul, represented in the form of an infant, cradled in His left arm.


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