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Guido di Pietro known as FRA ANGELICO
The Coronation of the Virgin
c. 1430-32
© R.M.N. |
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Denon
1st Floor
Salon Carré. Painting in Florence, 13th–15th century
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The Coronation of the Virgin |
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Painted before 1435 for the church of San Domenico in Fiesole, where Fra Angelico had taken his vows, the theme of this altarpiece was not drawn from the canonical Gospels, but from the Apocrypha. The scene occurs in Paradise, and the Virgin is crowned by Christ, surrounded by the heavenly host of angelic musicians, saints and martyrs.
Fra Angelico's vision of Paradise is a rational space, where the rules of perspective are respected, with a single vanishing point situated on the lid of the pot of ointment held by Mary Magdalene. The circular composition places the Virgin and Christ in the center, while the size of all the other figures diminishes as the eye moves up the image. In the foreground, the kneeling male and female saints become the intermediaries between the space of the onlooking worshipper and the picture space.
This celestial space is bathed in pure light, which intensifies the colors and is heightened by the abundant use of gold.
Depicted on the predella are six scenes from the life of St. Dominic, with the Entombment of Christ in the center. Influenced by the innovations of Brunelleschi and Masaccio, these images show that Fra Angelico shared their preoccupation with the representation of space.
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Stay in the Square Room, but walk around the wall on which Giotto's panel is hung.
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