The Virgin lies dead in a plain red dress, her head lolling and feet bare and swollen, while the apostles bow their heads and Mary Magdalene weeps on a low chair. Commissioned for a Carmelite church in Rome, it was rejected as indecorous, and rumour said a courtesan had posed. Rubens then advised the Duke of Mantua to buy it.
Look closer
Her halo is only a thin gold line. A huge blood-red curtain billows overhead, picking up the colour of her dress.
Looks like this
Compared by a vision model
