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Coronation of the Virgin

ca. 1455
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 956
The richly decorated surfaces and extensive use of silver and gold indicate that this panel—one of the artist's finest and best preserved works—derives from an important altarpiece, though its early history is not known. It is likely that a predella showing scenes from the life of the Virgin was originally below the main panel of the Coronation.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Coronation of the Virgin
  • Artist: Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) (Italian, Siena 1398–1482 Siena)
  • Date: ca. 1455
  • Medium: Tempera on wood, gold ground
  • Dimensions: Overall (shaped top): 70 5/8 × 51 3/4 in. (179.4 × 131.4 cm)
  • Classification: Paintings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.38
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

Audio

Cover Image for 4760. Coronation of the Virgin

4760. Coronation of the Virgin

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AMORY: The paintings in this part of the room are all by Giovanni di Paolo. Take a moment to look at the largest of them.

KANTER: It portrays the Coronation of the Virgin, with a choir of angels looking on behind the throne on which Christ and the virgin sit, and two musical angels in the foreground. We do not know where it was painted for, or exactly when it was painted, although our best guess is in the 1450s. Giovanni di Paolo's style throughout his very, very long career changes very little. I would say it grows from the eccentric to the more eccentric, and always to the engaging and fascinating. His interests are not in realism. His interests are not in illusionism, but simply in the power of storytelling and the devotional message that his stories contain. Giovanni di Paolo is most interested in the beauty of the virgin and the luxuriousness of her robes, in the majesty of Christ, in the splendor and wealth of the throne and the cloth of honor that they sit on, with its gilt brocade, and in the almost choirboy excitement of the angels behind, paying their reverence to the holy mother and her son.

More Artwork

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Saint Ambrose
Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) (Italian, Siena 1398–1482 Siena)
1465–70
Saint Catherine of Siena Beseeching Christ to Resuscitate Her Mother
Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) (Italian, Siena 1398–1482 Siena)
ca. 1447–65
The Blessed Ambrogio Sansedoni (1220–1286)
Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) (Italian, Siena 1398–1482 Siena)
1447–65
The Exultation of Saint Nicholas of Tolentino
Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) (Italian, Siena 1398–1482 Siena)
ca. 1450
The Annunciation to Zacharias; (verso) The Angel of the Annunciation
Giovanni di Paolo (Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia) (Italian, Siena 1398–1482 Siena)
ca. 1455–60

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