The Ascension

Description The subject may represent the Ascension in the spirit, an appearance of Christ to his disciples during his supernatural life after the Resurrection. Christ is represented nude, clad only in a loincloth and a flowing mantle, and showing his wounds. The twelve apostles, who manifest various expressions of astonishment and rapture, are distinguished only by their age. They bear no attributes. In the background one sees a town and a mountain ridge. The figure of Christ seems to have been inspired by that in a painting, The Doubting Thomas, executed in 1551, by Léonard Limosin for the church of Saint-Pierre-du-Queyroix in Limoges. Today this is in the museum at Limoges and was restored in 1963. On the other hand, Léonard Limosin may have used for his painting a figure of Christ designed by Jean Pénicaud II for his workshop.

Conservation

Date	Description	Narrative
5/05/1965	Treatment	cleaned

Exhibitions

• Lost and Found: The Secrets of Archimedes. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2011-2012.

Provenance F. Spitzer Collection Sale, Paris, April 17, 1893, lot 432; Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters