Title: Coronation Virgin

Artist: Gentile da Fabriano

The Coronation of the Virgin About 1420 Gentile da Fabriano Italian, Fabriano about 1370–Rome 1427 Tempera and gold leaf on panel In a lavish ceremony, Christ places an ornate gold crown on the bowed head of the Virgin Mary, his mother. A choir of angels watches as she is crowned queen of heaven. This panel originally formed the front of a two-sided processional standard, which was carried in religious festivals in the artist’s native town of Fabriano. The richly saturated colors and intricate decorative tooling in the gold leaf are hallmarks of Gentile’s work, which was much sought after by eminent patrons across the Italian peninsula.