Guido Reni, 'The Coronation of the Virgin', about 1607

The Coronation of the Virgin

Guido Reni

Room 26

About the work

Overview

Paintings of the coronation of the Virgin Mary typically show her being crowned by Christ and God the Father, often accompanied by the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove. This work, however, mixes elements of the coronation with those of Mary’s assumption (when angels carried her body and soul to heaven three days after her death). Attended by angels, the Virgin sits on a throne of clouds. Winged putti carry the crown, perhaps preparing to bestow the title Regina angelorum (‘Queen of the angels’) upon her.

This composition is a development of an earlier Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin of similar dimensions, painted by Guido Reni in about 1602–3 (Museo del Prado, Madrid). That painting is on panel, whereas the National Gallery’s small-scale scene is on copper. Reni began to paint on copper in the early 1590s and was considered especially successful at it – its smooth, hard surface allowed the artist to paint in minutely fine detail.

In-depth

The coronation of the Virgin is an episode related in biblical apocrypha, occurring upon her arrival in heaven following the Assumption (when angels carried her body and soul to heaven three days after her death). The subject gained popularity in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and depictions of it typically show the Virgin being crowned by Christ and God the Father, often accompanied by the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove.

In this work, however, elements of Mary’s assumption are mixed with those of her coronation. Attended by angels, the Virgin sits on a throne of clouds. Winged putti carry a crown, perhaps preparing to bestow the title Regina angelorum (‘Queen of the angels’) upon her. She is bathed in a radiant glow that emanates from the heavens, against a painted backdrop reminiscent of the early Renaissance tradition of gold-ground painting (as in The Coronation of the Virgin by Lorenzo Monaco).

This work is a development of an earlier Assumption and Coronation of the Virgin of similar dimensions, painted by Reni in about 1602–3 (Museo del Prado, Madrid). The earlier painting, in which the Virgin is depicted with her hands crossed over her chest, is very similar in its composition, though it lacks the vibrant colour palette and complex drapery arrangements of the National Gallery’s painting. The changes in the artist’s style may be the result of his time in Rome, where he travelled together with Francesco Albani to work for Annibale Carracci on the Palazzo Farnese frescoes in 1602. Reni included more varied poses and expressions for the angels in the National Gallery’s work – particularly those singing on the right, and the small putti in the foreground reading from a hymn sheet – giving this celestial scene an air of naturalism. His composition was copied in 1626 by Domenichino (Musée Bonnat, Bayonne), proof of the particular success Reni achieved in this version of the subject.

Reni’s Coronation of the Virgin is painted on a copper plate. The artist began to paint on copper in the early 1590s and was considered especially successful at it. The smooth, hard surface of the copper allowed Reni to paint in minutely fine detail, especially evident here in the wings of the angels: each feather has been brushed in carefully, and they are strikingly lifelike. The rich, bold colours have maintained their brilliance and saturation thanks to the non-absorbent copper support. Technical examination has revealed that Reni covered the copper with a silver-coloured layer (a metal coating containing lead and tin), perhaps in an attempt to make his pigments appear even more luminous. Such a process was not unique to Reni, though certain artists favoured ’silvered' copper panels, including Reni’s contemporaries, Guercino and Domenichino, as well as Adam Elsheimer and Claude. The jewel-like radiance achieved by painting on copper proved particularly attractive to seventeenth-century collectors, and this support was frequently used for reduced-sized replicas and gifted by artists to important patrons.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Coronation of the Virgin
Artist: Guido Reni
Artist dates: 1575 - 1642
Date made: about 1607
Medium and support: oil on copper
Dimensions: 66.6 × 48.8 cm
Acquisition credit: Bequeathed by William Wells, 1847
Inventory number: NG214
Location: Room 26
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: William Wells
Frame: 17th-century Italian Frame

Provenance

Possibly from the Royal Collection at Madrid. Said to have been acquired from Sir Thomas Lawrence by William Wells, by whom lent to the British Institution, 1831 (no. 29); William Wells bequest, 1847.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Michael Levey, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Exhibition history

2016

Painters' Paintings: From Freud to Van Dyck

The National Gallery (London)

23 June 2016 - 4 September 2016
2022

Guido Reni: The Beauty of the Divine

Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie

23 November 2022 - 5 March 2023

Museo Nacional del Prado

28 March 2023 - 9 July 2023

Bibliography

1831

British Institution, Catalogue of Pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, and English Masters with which the Proprietors have Favoured the Institution (exh. cat. British Institution, 1831), London 1831
1849

M. Bryan, Dictionary of Painters, London 1849
1850

National Gallery, A Catalogue of Pictures in the National Gallery, London 1850
1853

National Gallery, Report from the Select Committee on the National Gallery, together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, Appendix, and Index, London 1853
1853

London, National Gallery Archive, NG15/3: Report from the Select Committee on the National Gallery, together with the Proceedings of the Committee, Minutes of Evidence, Appendix, and Index, 1853
1854

G.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
1854

R.N. Wornum and C.L. Eastlake, Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery, with Biographical Notices of the Painters, London 1854
1878

H. Blackburn, Illustrated Catalogue to the National Gallery: Foreign Schools, London 1878
1888

E.T. Cook, A Popular Handbook to the National Gallery Including, by Special Permission, Notes Collected from the Works of Mr. Ruskin, London 1888
1906

Half Holidays at the National Gallery, 5th edn, London 1906
1930

W.T. Whitley, Art in England 1821-1837, Cambridge 1930
1937

O. Kurz, 'Guido Reni', Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, II, 1937, pp. 189-220
1955

C. Gnudi and G.C. Cavalli, Guido Reni, Florence 1955
1961

K. Andrews, 'An Early Guido Reni Drawing', The Burlington Magazine, CIII, 1961, pp. 461-5
1965

A.E. Pérez Sánchez, Pintura italiana del s. XVII en España, Madrid 1965
1969

D.S. Pepper, 'Guido Reni's Early Style', The Burlington Magazine, CXI, 1969, pp. 472-83
1970

P. Matthiesen and D.S. Pepper, 'Guido Reni: An Early Masterpiece Discovered in Liguria', Apollo, 1970, pp. 452-62
1971

E. Baccheschi, L'opera completa di Guido Reni, Milan 1971
1971

M. Levey, The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1971
1978

D. Robertson, Sir Charles Eastlake and the Victorian Art World, Princeton 1978
1983

M. Helston, Spanish and Later Italian Paintings, London 1983
1983

National Gallery, 'Pictures Cleaned and Restored in the Conservation Department of the National Gallery, January 1983 – December 1983', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, VIII, 1984, pp. 71-2
1984

D.S. Pepper, Guido Reni: A Complete Catalogue of His Works, Oxford 1984
1986

Levey, Michael, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Italian Schools, London 1986
1986

M. Helston, 'Some Recently Cleaned Seicento Paintings at the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, CXXVIII/996, 1986, pp. 209-17
1988

D.S. Pepper, Guido Reni: L'opera completa, Novara 1988
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001

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.

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You've viewed 6 of 10 works

Guido Reni, 'The Coronation of the Virgin', about 1607

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Exhibition history

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Guido Reni