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| Ivory Plaque with the Three Women at the Tomb and the Ascension Roman, c. 400 Munich, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum |
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem,
throughout Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth.”
When he had said this, as they were looking on,
he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.
While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going,
suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.
They said, “Men of Galilee,
why are you standing there looking at the sky?
This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven
will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
Acts 1:8-11
The quotation above is from the second part of the first reading for the Mass of the Ascension and dates from the last decades of the first century (80-90 AD). The feast of the Ascension is celebrated in the United States either on the traditional Thursday or on the following Sunday, according to the decision of the Bishops’ Conference.
The description of the group of disciples assembled on the mountain, the description of Jesus being “lifted up”, of the cloud that “took him from their sight” and of the two “men dressed in white garments” with their message of the future is among the most immediate in the New Testament. We can feel almost as though we are there with them. But the manner in which this moment can be captured in visual form has not been uniform.
There are several visual traditions, or iconographic types, for the Ascension scene, even from early times. They are: Jesus Striding into the Sky (covered in this essay), Jesus Lifted to Heaven in a Mandorla or on a Cloud (see here), The Disappearing Feet of Jesus (see here) and Jesus Rising Directly to Heaven (see here).
As early as the end of the fourth century we find an ivory relief of Jesus ascending to heaven by striding up a mountain into a cloud (see image above). Over time the mountain disappeared, but the striding motion remained and the image transformed into the motif of Christ striding on the clouds as He enters into heaven, welcomed by the hand of God the Father reaching out of the cloud.
This image showed very little development over time, save for the addition of angels and witnesses.
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| The Ascension From the Drogo Sacramentary French (Metz), c. 850 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 9428, fol. 71v |
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| The Ascension From the Sacramentary of St. Gereonis German (Cologne), 10th-11th Century Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 817, fol. 72r |
,%2011th%20Century_Paris,%20BNF_MS%20Ms-592%20r%C3%A9serve,%20fol.%20157v.jpg) |
| The Ascension From a Gospel Book French (Meuse Region), c. 974-1050 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Arsenal 592, fol. 157v |
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| Ivory Plaque with the Ascension French, c. 1160-1170 London, Victoria and Albert Museum |
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| The Ascension from a Sacramentary German (Mainz or Fulda), c. 1025-1040 Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum MS. Ludwig V2, Fol. 20r |
Sometimes, as in the image from the Getty Museum above, instead of the hand of God the Father reaching out of the cloud, Jesus' hand “pierces” the upper frame of the picture,
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| Giotto, The Ascension Italian, c. 1304-1306 Padua, Scrovegni/Arena Chapel |
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| The Ascension From a Vies de la Vierge et du Christ Italian (Naples), c. 1350 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 9561, fol. 188r |
This motif seems to have ended with the great work by Giotto and his immediate followers. At least, I have not yet found any examples of it that are much later in date.
For the other Ascension iconographic motifs see:
- Jesus Lifted in a Mandorla or on a Cloud (here)
- The Disappearing Feet of Jesus (here)
- The Direct Approach (here)
© M. Duffy, 2011, revised 2017 and 2024.
Excerpts from the Lectionary
for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States of America, second
typical edition © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of
Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC. Used with permission. All rights
reserved. No portion of this text may be reproduced by any means without
permission in writing from the copyright owner.