Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1410): Art, History and Details

Coronation of the Virgin (c. 1410) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Master of the Fröndenberg Altarpiece (German).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the 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.

Object facts

• Title: Coronation of the Virgin
• Date: c. 1410
• Creator attribution: Master of the Fröndenberg Altarpiece (German)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Painting
• Technique: tempera and gold on wood
• 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.)
• Collection: MED - Medieval Art
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1929.920

A detail from the museum

This is only one panel from what would have been a large altarpiece dedicated to the Virgin.

Collection credit

Gift of the Friends of The Cleveland Museum of Art

Further reading listed by the museum

• Lübke, Wilhelm. Die mittelalterliche Kunst in Westfalen [Textbd.]. [Textbd.]. 1853.
• Katalog zur Austellung westfälischer Alterthümer u. Kunssterzeugnisse vom Vereine für Geschichte und Alterthumskunde Westfalens im Juni 1879 zu Munster. Münster: Dr. der Theissing'sthen Buchhandlung, 1879.
• Nordhoff, J.B. "Die Soester Malerei unter Meister Conrad," Bonner Jahrbucher LXVII (1879).

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.