The Coronation of the Virgin

1324

Master of the Washington Coronation

Painter, Italian, active first third 14th century

Against a gold background, a man places a crown onto a woman’s head as they sit side-by-side on a wide throne surrounded by winged angels in this vertical painting. The arched area over the throne comes to a point, and is carved with leaves around the arch. The three-dimensional leaves are painted gold against the ocean-blue background. All the people and angels have pale skin with a greenish cast, though their cheeks are blush pink. They all have dark eyes, long, straight noses, and their small red mouths are closed. They all have long, wavy, blond hair except for the woman, Mary, whose head is covered. The flat gold halos around every person and angels’ heads are punched with clusters of three dots. The man, Jesus, sits to our right on the throne and looks toward Mary as he places a crown on her bowed head with one hand. He holds a long staff in his other hand, which rests in his lap. His hair falls around his shoulders, and he wears a gold-trimmed, buttercup-yellow robe under a lapis-blue cloak that wraps over one shoulder and across his lap. The woman looks at us while holding both hands up to gesture toward Jesus. She wears a rose-pink dress under a blue mantle, which drapes over her head, shoulders, and arms. Her mantle and Jesus’s robe are painted with gold lines to indicate folds. One shoe peeks out from under Mary’s hem, and Jesus’s feet are bare. They both sit on an olive-green cushion on the gold throne. The eight angels are spaced over the throne, and are smaller in scale, about half the size of Mary and Jesus. Each looks across toward the others, and they wear robes of rose pink, lapis blue, or forest green. The round neckline of each has a wide gold band, and many hold long staffs. Two angels hold up a ruby-red cloth behind Mary and Jesus, and the back of the throne curves in a half moon above the cloth. The half moon has a shell design at the center and is painted with gold stars against a cobalt-blue background along the top, curving edge. The roman numerals “CCCXXIIII” are painted on the base of the throne, near Jesus’s feet.

Media Options

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This Coronation of the Virgin may be the first time the subject, which originated in the West, appears in Venetian art. Some of the earliest representations were carved above cathedral doorways in France—and certain elements in the Gallery's painting—its elaborate halos, for example—share in the decorative elegance of Gothic art. Yet, the painting also has a strongly Byzantine character. The gold striations that define the figures’ robes, the flat gold background, and the almost abstract way that colors and shapes fill the field might have been copied from a Byzantine icon. The artist, however, did not have a Byzantine model. Instead, the look of his painting is the product of a pervasive, and enduring, Byzantine influence on all art of the Veneto, the region around Venice. Venice had close ties to Byzantium, starting in the sixth century, and enjoyed a virtual monopoly on trade with the East. Its ships carried, and its merchants sold, most of the luxury goods desired by the West: silks, spices, ivory, and exotic pigments. In part because of the ready availability of these pigments, the brilliant color we see here would continue to be a hallmark of Venetian painting into the Renaissance and beyond.

The panel, originally part of a much larger assemblage (see Reconstruction), has been attributed in the past to Paolo Veneziano, Venice’s most important artist in the 14th century. More likely, however, its painter belonged to the previous generation—he may even have been Paolo’s father, Martino da Venezia. A comparison to a painting by Paolo also in the National Gallery of Art, with more dimensional and less static figures, brings into focus the Coronation’s more schematic approach.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 1


Artwork overview

  • Medium

    tempera on poplar panel

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    painted surface (score lines to score lines): 99.3 × 77.4 cm (39 1/8 × 30 1/2 in.)
    overall: 108.3 × 79 × 1.5 cm (42 5/8 × 31 1/8 × 9/16 in.)
    framed: 115.3 x 86 x 8.9 cm (45 3/8 x 33 7/8 x 3 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1952.5.87

More About this Artwork


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Antonio Dal Zotto [1841–1918], Venice.[1] Dr. J. Carl [or Carlo?] Broglio, Paris;[2] purchased jointly 27 July 1950 by (Thos. Agnew and Sons, Ltd., London) and (Rudolf Heinemann, New York); Agnew share sold to (Rudolf Heinemann, New York); (M. Knoedler and Co., New York);[3] purchased February 1952 as by Paolo Veneziano by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1952 to NGA.
[1] On the life and career of the sculptor Dal Zotto see Livia Alberton Vinco da Sesso, "Antonio dal Zotto," in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, 77 vols., Rome, 1960-: 32(1986): 285–287. In 1889 Dal Zotto married Ida Lessjak, widow of the photographer Carlo Naya, and after her death in 1893 Dal Zotto became owner of Naya’s successful firm specializing in views of Venice and reproductions of works of art. According to Alberton Vinco da Sesso, Naya had also amassed a collection of ancient statuary, and it cannot be excluded that the Gallery’s painting actually came from the photographer’s collection. Nonetheless, the catalogue of the sculptor’s estate sale, Collezione del fu Comm. Antonio del Zotto e già Giuseppe Piccoli (Geri-Salvadori, Venice, 1-16 September 1919), does not cite the painting, which perhaps had already been sold.
[2] Michelangelo Muraro, Paolo da Venezia, Milano, 1969: 157, transmits the reported provenance of the painting from the Broglio collection, annotated on a photograph in the photographic archive of the Biblioteca Berenson at the Villa I Tatti, Florence. The Agnew stockbooks record the painting as no. J0332 and identify the Broglio family member from whom it was purchased.
[3] The Agnew records (kindly confirmed by Venetia Constantine of Agnew’s, e-mail, 28 June 2010, in NGA curatorial files) give details about the joint purchase and indicate that Agnew’s share in the painting was sold to Heinemann on 16 June 1952, several months after the February date of the Knoedler bill of sale to the Kress Foundation (see note 4). Constantine speculates that Agnew might have recorded the date when payment for their share was actually received from Heinemann, rather than the date when they made the decision to sell their share. Heinemann often worked in tandem with Knoedler’s, for whom he was at one time managing partner, and may have done so in this instance.
[4] The bill of sale from Knoedler’s to the Kress Foundation for twelve paintings, including this one, is dated 6 February 1952; payment was made in three installments, the final one on 5 September 1952. See also M. Knoedler and Co. Records, accession number 2012.M.54, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles: Series II, Box 76 (Sales Book No. 16, Paintings, 1945-1953). Copies of the Knoedler bill and sale record are in NGA curatorial files. See also The Kress Collection Digital Archive, https://kress.nga.gov/Detail/objects/2111.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1907

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1923

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1930

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1931

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1935

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1950

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1951

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1954

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1956

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1957

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1959

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1961

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1963

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1964

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1965

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1966

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1968

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1969

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1970

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  • Gamulin, Grgo. "Di un libro su Paolo da Venezia." Arte veneta 24 (1970): 256 (repro.), 258, 261-263, 267 n. 2.

1971

  • Buchthal, Hugo. "Review of Paolo da Venezia by Michelangelo Muraro." The Art Bulletin 53 (1971): 400.

  • Muraro, Michelangelo. "Maestro Marco e Maestro Paolo da Venezia." In Scritti di storia dell’arte in onore di Antonio Morassi. Venice, 1971: 23, 24 (repro.), 30-31.

1972

  • Fredericksen, Burton B., and Federico Zeri. Census of Pre-Nineteenth Century Italian Paintings in North American Public Collections. Cambridge, Mass., 1972: 158, 309, 647, 667.

  • "Paolo Veneziano." In Dizionario Enciclopedico Bolaffi dei pittori e degli Incisori italiani: dall’XI al XX secolo. Edited by Alberto Bolaffi and Umberto Allemandi. 11 vols. Turin, 1972-1976: 8(1975):323.

1973

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Paintings from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: Italian Schools, XVI-XVIII Century. London, 1973: 81.

  • Marchini, Giuseppe. Corpus vitrearum Medii Aevi, vol. 1, le vetrate dell’Umbria. Rome, 1973: 136.

  • Muraro, Michelangelo. "Paolo Veneziano in Jugoslavia." Zbornik za likovne umetnosti 9 (1973): 48.

  • Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 89. [As by Paolo Veneziano]

1974

  • Christie, Manson, & Woods. Catalogo di pitture e sculture dal XIV al XIX secolo e arte contemporanea provenienti da raccolte private. Rome, 21 May 1974: 37.

  • Davies, Martin. "Italian School." In European Paintings in the Collection of the Worcester Art Museum. Vol. 1, Text. Edited by Worcester Art Museum. Worcester, MA, 1974: 412.

  • Furlan, Italo, and Giovanni Mariacher, eds. Venezia e Bisanzio. Exh. cat. Palazzo Ducale, Venice. Milan, 1974: n.p., nos. 87, 88.

  • Grossato, Lucio, ed. Da Giotto al Mantegna. Exh. cat. Palazzo della Ragione, Padua. Milan, 1974: n.p., no. 9.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 260, repro.

1976

  • Echols, Mary Tuck. "The Coronation of the Virgin in Fifteenth Century Italian Art." Ph.D. diss., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1976. Ann Arbor, MI, 1981: 281.

1977

  • Kiel, Hanna. "Das Polyptychon von Paolo und Giovanni Veneziano in Sanseverino Marche." Pantheon 35 (1977): 107, 108 n. 10.

1978

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1979

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1981

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1982

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  • Pietralunga, Fra Ludovico da, and Pietro Scarpellini (intro. and comm.). Descrizione della Basilica di S. Francesco e di altri Santuari di Assisi. Treviso, 1982: 344.

1983

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1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 67, no. 7, color repro.

  • Gibbs, Robert. "A Fresco by Marco or Paolo Veneziano in Treviso." Studi trevisani 1 (1984): 27-29, 30 n. 7.

1985

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1986

  • Lucco, Mauro. "Pittura del Trecento a Venezia," "Marco di Martino da Venezia," and "Paolo Veneziano." In La Pittura in Italia. Il Duecento e il Trecento. Edited by Enrico Castelnuovo. 2 vols. Milan, 1986: 1:181; 2:634, 648.

1988

  • Bandera Viani, Maria Cristina. Museo delle icone bizantine e post bizantine e Chiesa di San Giorgio dei Greci. Bologna, 1988: 2.

1989

  • Gibbs, Robert. Tomaso da Modena: Painting in Emilia and the March of Treviso, 1340-1380. Cambridge, 1989: 29.

  • Zava Boccazzi, Francesca. "Paolo Veneziano." In Dizionario della pittura e dei pittori. Edited by Enrico Castelnuovo and Bruno Toscano. 6 vols. Turin, 1989-1994: 4(1993):139.

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1991

  • Flores d’Arcais, Francesca. "Paolo Veneziano." In Enciclopedia dell’arte medievale. Edited by Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana. 12 vols. Rome, 1991-2002: 9(1998):157.

1992

  • Flores d’Arcais, Francesca. "Venezia." In La Pittura nel Veneto. Il Trecento. Edited by Mauro Lucco. 2 vols. Milan, 1992: 1:22, fig. 7, pls. 23 and 29.

  • Lucco, Mauro. "Maestro dell’Incoronazione della Vergine di Washington." In La Pittura nel Veneto. Il Trecento. Edited by Mauro Lucco. 2 vols. Milan, 1992: 2:534.

  • Lucco, Mauro. "Marco di Martino da Venezia (Marco Veneziano)." In La Pittura nel Veneto. Il Trecento. Edited by Mauro Lucco. 2 vols. Milan, 1992: 2:541-542.

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  • Travi, Carla. "Il Maestro del trittico di Santa Chiara: appunti per la pittura veneta di primo Trecento." Arte cristiana 80 (1992): 96 n. 57.

1993

  • Humfrey, Peter. "The Prehistory of Titian's Assunta." Studies in the History of Art 45 (1993): 230-231.

  • Gagliardi, Jacques. La conquête de la peinture: L’Europe des ateliers du XIIIe au XVe siècle. Paris, 1993: 141, fig. 151, as by Paolo Veneziano (?).

1994

  • Santini, Clara. "Un’antologia pittorica del primo Trecento nella chiesa di San Francesco a Udine." Arte cristiana 82 (1994): 188.

  • Travi, Carla. "Su una recente storia della pittura del Veneto nel Trecento." Arte cristiana 82 (1994): 71.

1996

  • Gibbs, Robert. "Paolo Veneziano." In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York, 1996: 24:30.

  • Gibbs, Robert. "Master of the Washington Coronation." In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York, 1996: 20:784.

1997

  • Martin, Frank, and Gerhard Ruf. Die Glasmalereien von San Francesco in Assisi: Entstehung und Entwicklung einer Gattung in Italien. Regensburg, 1997: 315.

  • Santini, Clara. "Un episodio della pittura veneziana di primo Trecento: il ‘Maestro dell’Incoronazione della Vergine di Washington’." Il Santo 37 (1997): 123-145, pls. 1, 18.

1998

  • Frinta, Mojmír S. Punched Decoration on Late Medieval Panel and Miniature Painting. Prague, 1998: 127, 128.

2002

  • Markova, Viktorija. Italija: sobranie živopisi. Vol. 1, VIII-XVI vekov. Moscow, 2002: 43.

  • Flores d’Arcais, Francesca, and Giovanni Gentili, eds. Il Trecento Adriatico: Paolo Veneziano e la pittura tra Oriente e Occidente. Exh. cat. Castel Sismondo, Rimini. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 2002: 18 (repro.), 21, 118, 142.

2003

  • Pedrocco, Filippo. Paolo Veneziano. Milan and Venice, 2003: 213.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 10, no. 4, color repro.

  • Strehlke, Carl Brandon. Italian Paintings, 1250-1450, in the John G. Johnson Collection and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 2004: 454-455.

  • D’Amico, Rosa, Tatjana Bošnjak, and Dubravka Preradović. Pittura italiana dal XIV al XVIII secolo dal Museo Nazionale di Belgrado: Tesori d’arte italiana dal Museo Nazionale di Belgrado. Belgrade, 2004: 129.

2005

  • De Marchi, Andrea. "Peintre vénitien vers 1320." In Splendeurs de la peinture italienne, 1250-1510. Exh. cat. Galerie G. Sarti, Paris, 2005: 26-28, fig. 2.

  • Geymonat, Ludovico V. "Stile e contesto: gli affreschi di San Zan Degolà a Venezia." In Venezia e Bisanzio: aspetti della cultura artistica bizantina da Ravenna a Venezia, V-XIV secolo. Edited by Clementina Rizzardi. Venice, 2005: 541, 544-545, fig. 42.

  • Praga, Giuseppe. Documenti per la storia dell’arte a Zara dal Medioevo al Settecento. Edited by Maria Walcher. Trieste, 2005: 130 n. 84, fig. 40.

  • De Marchi, Andrea, ed. Autour de Lorenzo Veneziano: fragments de polyptyques vénitiens du XIVe siècle. Exh. cat. Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tours. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 2005: 14-15, repro.

2006

  • Guarnieri, Cristina. Lorenzo Veneziano. Cinisello Balsamo (Milan), 2006: 73, 75, 92 n. 2, fig. 5.

  • Papastavrou, Hélène. "Influences byzantines sur la peinture de chevalet à Venise, au XIVe siècle." In Autour de l’icone: origine, évolution et Rayonnement de l’icone du Vie au XIXe siècle. Paris, 2006: 46, fig. 4.

2007

  • Guarnieri, Cristina. "Il passaggio tra due generazioni: dal Maestro dell’Incoronazione a Paolo Veneziano." In Il secolo di Giotto nel Veneto. Edited by Giovanna Valenzano and Federica Toniolo. Venice, 2007: 166, 177-175, 176, fig. 26.

2009

  • De Marchi, Andrea. "La postérité du devant d’autel à Venise: retables orfévrés et retables peints." In The Altar and its Environment, 1150-1400. Edited by J. E. A. Kroesen and Victor Michael Schmidt. Turnhout, 2009: 63.

2011

  • Boskovits, Miklós, ed. The Alana Collection, Newark, Delaware, USA. Vol. II: Italian Paintings and Sculptures from the Fourteenth to Sixteenth Century. Florence, 2011: 146.

2016

  • Boskovits, Miklós. Italian Paintings of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries. The Systematic Catalogue of the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 2016: 303-313, color repro.

2021

  • Llewellyn, Laura, and John Witty, eds. Paolo Veneziano: Art & Devotion in 14th-Century Venice. New York, 2021: 11, fig. 8.

Inscriptions

on the base of the throne: MCCCXXIIII [1]

Wikidata ID

Q20173042


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