Dormition of the Virgin (c1612) Carlo Saraceni. After the Carmelites rejected Caravaggio’s intensely realistic take on the Dormition of the Virgin, Saraceni was commissioned to create a new version. His interpretation draws on Northern Italian influences, with a Renaissance-inspired color palette and carefully arranged figures. Yet the work remains grounded in naturalism and in its original form, the Virgin’s eyes were closed and her head gently slumped. The Carmelites, however, initially rejected Saraceni’s painting as well. He repainted the Virgin’s face, opening her eyes and directing her gaze toward heaven, but this revision was again refused. Ultimately, Saraceni created an entirely new canvas, which still hangs in the Carmelite church in Rome today.