Cleveland Museum of Art

Coronation of the Virgin

Fra AngelicoLinkedCulture matchlcp-9515d0c5221c

Date: 1420s
Medium: tempera and gold on wood panel
Culture: Italy, Florence
Department: Medieval Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID: 124076

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

This picture’s original use is uncertain. Its size and shape are appropriate for a predella (the pedestal portion of an altarpiece), which often consists of several small panels. However, the Coronation of the Virgin almost never appears on predellas. The panel’s minute detail and rich finish suggest it may have been an object for private devotion. This is believed to be an early work by Fra Angelico, whose real name was Guido di Pietro, a Dominican monk in Florence. Here, an angel holds the Virgin’s train while she kneels to receive the crown offered by Christ. The scene glimmers with gold; the thrones are draped with starry tapestries, the walls are hung with gold cloth, and Christ himself radiates light. Since its acquisition in 1944 the authorship of this painting has been updated from the workshop of Fra Angelico to the master himself.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line: The Elisabeth Severance Prentiss Collection
Provenance: -1924: Count Alessandro Contini-Bonacossi (1878-1955), Rome, Italy | 1924-1944: Mrs. Francis F. Prentiss (1865–1944), Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 1944-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH