The Death of the Virgin

The apostles gather at the Virgin’s death bed. St. Peter, dressed as a priest, blesses her with holy water as part of the last rites – a ritual familiar to contemporary viewers. This was the outer face of one-half of a pair of shutters protecting an altarpiece; the facing shutter would have shown the Virgin’s Assumption into heaven. The shutters would normally be closed, except on special feast days when they were opened to reveal the elaborate sculpted altarpiece within.