The Coronation of the Virgin with Six Angels

Agnolo Gaddi

National Gallery of Art

A man and woman sit above six winged angels in this vertical panel painting, which comes to a pointed arch at the top. They all have pale skin tinged with gray, rosy cheeks, blond hair, and gold halos. The woman, Mary, and man, Jesus, sit with their knees angled toward each other, and they fill the top two-thirds of the arch. The space behind them is hung with fabric that is ocean blue inside and brick red on the outside, and both sides are edged and patterned with gold. Mary and Jesus wear shell-pink robes trimmed with gold under very pale pink, almost white, mantles that drape from their heads to cover much of their bodies. The mantles are patterned with straw-yellow, delicate, leafy, geometric designs, and they are lined with moss green. Jesus wears a three-pointed gold crown and his hands are raised to place a similar crown on the woman’s head. Mary tilts her head to receive the crown with her wrists crossed over her chest. Their feet rest on a step leading down to the bottom quarter of the composition. The step has a white stone tread and is inset with green and pink stone within white molding on the riser. In front of the step, six angels are in two groups of three on a scarlet-red floor. The angels are about a quarter the height Mary and Jesus would be if they stood. The angels wear robes in shades of goldenrod yellow, fern green, azure blue, or pale pink, and their wings match their robes. One angel in each trio plays a lute-like wooden instrument. Most of the angels’ lips are parted but two look up at Mary and Jesus with lips closed.