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Fresco with the Dormition of the Virgin

Monastery of Gracanica, 1318–21
After G. Subotic, Terra sacra: L’arte del Cossovo (Milan, 1997), fig. 47

An apocryphal episode of the Hebrew Jephonias was occasionally included in the scene of the Dormition, especially in the Palaiologan and later periods. According to the story, Jephonias tried to overturn the Virgin’s bier, but was punished by an angel who cut off his hands. This story, as seen here, served to illustrate the miraculous power of the Virgin.
DEATH OF THE VIRGIN

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