Ivory Icon with the Koimesis of the Virgin Mary in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, January 2008

Ivory Icon with the Koimesis of the Virgin Mary
Byzantine
Carved late 900s, probably in Constantinople
Inscribed in Greek: "The Koimesis"

Accession # 17.190.132

Images of the Koimesis, the "falling asleep" in death of the Virgin, show her lying on a bier while her soul, represented as a baby, is offered by Christ to attendant angels who will take it to heaven. The apostles, led by Saint Paul on the left and Saint Peter on the right, stand witness. The Koimesis first appears in Byzantine art in the 900s. Its celebration is a principal holy feast day in the Orthodox Church calendar.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.