Coronation of the Virgin

Piero del Pollaiuolo painted this altarpiece in 1483 for the church of Sant'Agostino in San Gimignano. It is the only work by him that is signed and dated, which makes it a key reference point for separating his output from that of his more famous brother Antonio. Christ crowns the Virgin in mid-air, attended by angel musicians and seraph heads, while putti below hold up a chalice representing the Eucharist. Six saints kneel beneath, gazing upward; among them are Saint Augustine and Saint Jerome, the latter shown as a penitent in the desert, nearly naked to the waist and about to strike himself with a rock. The pose lets the painter display bodies in energetic motion. The composition resembles, in a less crowded form, a Coronation by Fra Angelico. The panel combines tempera with linseed oil, an early use in Florentine painting, and renders jewels, brocades and velvets with great attention. Critics have judged it very differently: Berenson dismissed it harshly, while Galli calls it magnificent and Seymour links it to Botticelli's Primavera.

Painter

Piero del Pollaiuolo

Date

1483

Medium

tempera, linseed oil, panel

Genre

religious art

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