Rubens completes the Assumption of the Virgin Mary or Assumption of the Holy Virgin in 1626 as an altarpiece for the high altar of the Cathedral of Our Lady, Antwerp, where it remains.

According to New Testament apocrypha, Jesus' mother Mary was physically assumed (raised) to heaven after her death.

In Rubens’ depiction of the Assumption, a choir of angels lifts her in a spiraling motion toward a burst of divine light.

Around her tomb are gathered the twelve apostles — some with their arms raised in awe; others reaching to touch her discarded shroud.

The women in the painting are thought to be Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary's two sisters.

A kneeling woman holds a flower, referring to blossoms that miraculously filled the empty coffin.