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Coronation of the Virgin
Master of the Fröndenberg Altarpiece (German)
c. 1410
- Medium
- tempera and gold on wood
- Classification
- Painting
- Dimensions
- Framed: 77 x 59.5 x 8 cm (30 5/16 x 23 7/16 x 3 1/8 in.); Unframed: 64.8 x 47.5 cm (25 1/2 x 18 11/16 in.)
- Culture
- Germany
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Medieval Art
- Credit line
- Gift of the Friends of The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
This panel once formed the left wing of an altarpiece originally located in a Cistercian convent in the German town of Fröndenberg. The Coronation of the Virgin was a common subject; though it is not based on a biblical text it often appeared in medieval books of hours as a focus of contemplation. It represents the culminating event in the life of Mary. Here, Christ and the Virgin are housed in an architectural setting; the Virgin kneels before Christ as he crowns her in the company of a group of angels. The color palette is particularly rich: pink, deep red, blue, and a delicate green as well as large areas of gold leaf. The well-developed, proportional figures, modeled drapery, and detailed architectural throne suggest an artist with a high level of experience and sophistication.
