Bernardo Daddi, The Assumption of the Virgin

Prato, Italy, circa 1340
Tempera on panel; 38 3/16 x 53 7/16 in. (108 x 136.8 cm.)
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Robert Lehman Collection, 1975.1.58

According to the museum's label, this is part of an altarpiece that was in a chapel housing the girdle that Mary was said to have given to St. Thomas as she was rising to Heaven. The girdle is in her right hand, and at its lower end one can see part of Thomas's hand, which was in a panel below that is now lost.

In most Assumptions Mary is standing, but here she is seated holding a book on her lap. The book is a detail I have not seen in any other Assumption. Considering its position, it most likely refers to Christ, the "Word" of John 1:1-14 who "was made flesh" in Mary's womb.

The mandorla background for the figure of Mary was common in the 14th century but relatively rare in later years when a more naturalistic effect was sought.

Read more about the legend of the belt.

Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City