The J. Paul Getty Museum

Coronation of the Virgin

Object Details

Title:

Coronation of the Virgin

Artist/Maker:

Gentile da Fabriano (Italian, about 1370 - 1427)

Culture:

Italian

Date:

about 1420

Medium:

Tempera and gold leaf on panel

Object Number:

77.PB.92

Dimensions:

93 × 64.1 cm (36 5/8 × 25 1/4 in.)

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Object Description

The mood is one of lavish ceremony, as Christ places an ornate gold crown upon the Virgin Mary’s slightly bowed head. Groups of musical angels watch from either side as she is crowned Queen of Heaven. Gentile da Fabriano used extensive tooling, pastiglia (areas of raised gesso which is molded and then gilded) and rich pigments applied in glazes over the gold leaf to create a sumptuous surface resembling tapestry. The complex patterning, elaborate materials, and the intricacy of the gold tooling are characteristic of Gentile’s works, which were celebrated for their refinement and much sought after by eminent patrons all across the Italian peninsula.

Gentile painted this work for his native town, Fabriano in the Marches, probably for a confraternity associated with the church of San Francesco. Originally the panel was double-sided and served as a processional standard held aloft in parades that honored the Virgin Mary. Sometime prior to 1827, the panel was sawn down the middle to create two paintings; the reverse, depicting the Stigmatization of Saint Francis is now in the collection of the Fondazione Magnani-Rocca, Parma, Italy.

Provenance
Provenance
about 1420 -

Church of San Francesco (Fabriano, Italy), commissioned from the artist, about 1420; transferred to the Congregation of the Fathers of the Oratory of San Filippo Neri.

-

Congregation of the Fathers of the Oratory of San Filippo Neri (Fabriano, Italy), transferred to the seminary in Fabriano, by 1827.

by 1827 -

Seminary (Fabriano, Italy)
Source: 1827 manuscript by Vincenzo Liberati, cited in Bruno Molajoli, Gentile da Fabriano (Fabriano: Edizione "Gentile," 1927), p. 112n2.

- 1835

Nocchi (Florence, Italy), sold to John Sanford, 1835.
Source: Account book/diary of Rev. Sanford, Barber Institute, Birmingham, cited in Keith Christiansen, "The Coronation of the Virgin by Gentile da Fabriano." The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal 6-7 (1978-79), p. 10, app. 1.

1835 - 1855

Rev. John Sanford, 1775 - 1855 (London; England; Nynehead Court, Somerset, England; Florence, Italy), by inheritance to his son-in-law, Frederick Henry Paul Methuen, 1855.

1855 - 1891

Frederick Henry Paul Methuen, second baron Methuen, 1818 - 1891 (Corsham Court, Wiltshire, England), by inheritance to Paul Sanford Methuen, 1891.

1891 - 1899

Paul Sanford Methuen, third baron Methuen, 1845 - 1932 (Corsham Court, Wiltshire, England) [sold, Methuen sale, Christie's, London, May 13, 1899, lot 81, to Charles Sedelmeyer.]

1899 - 1902

Charles Sedelmeyer, 1837 - 1925 (Paris, France), sold to Henri Heugel, 1902.

1902 -

Henri Heugel (Paris, France), by inheritance within the Heugel family.

- 1976

Heugel Family (Paris, France), sold to Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., 1976.

1976 - 1977

Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd. (London, England), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 1977.

Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, and French Masters (June 1839)
  • British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom (London), June to June 1839
Fioritura tardogotica nelle Marche (July 24 to October 25, 1998)
  • Palazzo Ducale di Urbino Galleria Nazionale delle Marche (Urbino), July 24 to October 25, 1998
The Queen of the Angels (August 15 to November 5, 2000)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), August 15 to November 5, 2000
Fit for a King: Courtly Manuscripts, 1380-1450 (June 29 to August 29, 2004)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), June 29 to September 5, 2004
The Shimmer of Gold: Giovanni di Paolo in Renaissance Siena (October 11, 2016 to January 8, 2017)
  • The J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center (Los Angeles), October 11, 2016 to January 8, 2017
Bibliography
Bibliography

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