Giusto de' Menabuoi, 'The Coronation of the Virgin, and Other Scenes', 1367
About the work
Overview
This triptych – a folding picture in three parts – was most likely made for private contemplation and worship. The central image shows Christ crowning the Virgin Mary after her ascension to heaven. Orderly tiers of cherubim and seraphim (the blue and red winged creatures at the very top), angels and saints are arranged around the throne. Below, two groups of saints look up in devotion towards the Virgin and Christ.
The panels on either side of this scene show the Nativity of Christ on the left and the Crucifixion on the right. The upper parts together show the Annunciation – the moment the angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive the son of God.
The reverses of the two outer wings are painted with scenes from the life of the Virgin, from the story of her conception to her marriage to Joseph.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Coronation of the Virgin, Scenes from the Lives of Joachim and Anna, and from the Life of the Virgin
- Artist
- Giusto de' Menabuoi
- Artist dates
- active probably 1349 - 63; died 1390/91
- Date made
- 1367
- Medium and support
- egg tempera on wood
- Dimensions
- 48 × 25 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated and inscribed
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by Queen Victoria at the Prince Consort's wish, 1863
- Inventory number
- NG701
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Dillian Gordon, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Italian Paintings before 1400’, London 2011; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1854G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
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1857G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], translated from German by Elizabeth Eastlake, 3 vols, London 1857, vol. 3
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1857G. Scharf, Catalogue of the Art Treasures of the United Kingdom: Collected at Manchester in 1857, London 1857
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1909L. Testi, La storia della pittura veneziana, 2 vols, Bergamo 1909
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1923R. van Marle, The Development of the Italian Schools of Painting, 19 vols, The Hague 1923
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1928R. Longhi, 'Frammenti di Giusto di Padova', Pinacotheca, III, 1928, pp. 137-52
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1928R. Longhi, 'Frammenti di Giusto di Padova', Pinacotheca, 1928, pp. 137-52
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1930R. Offner and K. Steinweg, A Critical and Historical Corpus of Florentine Painting, 8 vols, New York 1930
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1937G. Sinibaldi and G. Brunetti, Pittura italiana del duecento e trecento, catalogo della Mostra giottesca di Firenze del 1937, Florence 1937
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1944S. Bettini, Giusto de' Menabuoi e l'arte del Trecento, Padua 1944
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1957R. Longhi, 'Una Cornice per Bonifacio Bembo', Paragone, 87, 1957, pp. 251-60
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1973B.J. Delaney, Giusto de' Menabuoi: Iconography and Style, Ann Arbor 1973
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1973R. Longhi, Lavori in Valpadana dal Trecento al primo Cinquecento, Florence 1973
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1973S. Pettenati, 'Vetri a oro del Trecento padano', Paragone, CCLXXV, 1973, pp. 71-80
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1974M. Gregori, 'Presenza di Giusto dei Menabuoi a Viboldone', Paragone, 293, 1974
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1976M.T. Echols, The Coronation of the Virgin in Fifteenth-Century Italian Art, Ann Arbor 1976
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1976F. Zeri, Italian Paintings in the Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore 1976
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1976B.J. Delaney, 'Giusto de' Menabuoi in Lombardy', Art Bulletin, LVIII/1, 1976, pp. 19-35
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1977F.W. Kent, Family Life in Renaissance Florence: Household and Lineage Among the Capponi, Ginori, and Rucellai, Princeton 1977
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1986E. Castelnuovo (ed.), La pittura in Italia: Il Duecento e il Trecento, Milan 1986
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1988Gordon, Dillian, National Gallery Catalogues: The Early Italian Schools before 1400, revised edn, London 1988
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1991J. Dunkerton et al., Giotto to Dürer: Early Renaissance Painting in the National Gallery, New Haven 1991
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1993V. Terraroli (ed.), La pittura in Lombardia: Il Trecento, Milan 1993
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1994A. Thomas, An Illustrated Dictionary of Narrative Painting, London 1994
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1996J. Richardson, 'Giusto de' Menabuoi', in J. Turner (ed.), The Dictionary of Art, London 1996
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2011Gordon, Dillian, National Gallery Catalogues: The Italian Paintings before 1400, London 2011
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.