oil on canvas (Dormition) and fresco (Assumption)
Basilica of St. John Lateran, Rome
St. Dominic is
the
saint raising on the left with the book and stalk of lilies.
Lilies are one of his attributes, as of course is the Dominican habit
he is wearing.
St. Dominic's
book
is open to the words Trahe Nos Post
Te, from the Song of Solomon 1:4 (trahe me post te
curremus introduxit me rex in cellaria sua exultabimus
et laetabimur in te memores uberum tuorum super vinum recti diligunt
te: "Draw me: we will run
after thee to the odour of thy ointments. The king
hath brought me into his storerooms: we will be glad and rejoice in
thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine: the righteous love
thee.")
The
change from trahe me ("draw
me") to trahe nos ("draw us")
points to the understanding of the Virgin as not simply the historical
Mary but the Church, the Bride of Christ whose nuptials are
traditionally understood to have been foretold in the Song of Solomon.
I have not yet identified the saint on the right.
The
framed painting to which the second saint is looking is a canvas of the
Dormition (see detail),
identified at the church as being from the
school of Giotto.
More of St. Dominic
More of the Assumption
More of the Dormition