Mary’s coronation as Queen of Heaven occupies the center of the altarpiece, with smaller narrative scenes and representations of saints and angels surrounding it. The altarpiece illustrates the major events of the New Testament in pictorial form. It likely occupied the place of honor above the main altar in the church of San Martino in Piove di Sacco, outside of Padua.
Guariento di Arpo worked in Padua, where the influence of Giotto was primary. Like his famous predecessor, Guariento endows his figures with solidity and naturalism. His own highly individual expression is evident in the refined linear technique and limpid color, which anticipate the International Gothic style. The gold-leaf background emphasizes the spiritual nature of these Christian mysteries.
Details
- Artist Name: Guariento di Arpo (Italian, c.1310-c.1370)
- Title: Coronation of the Virgin Altarpiece
- Date: 1344
- Medium: Tempera and gold leaf on panels (32)
- Dimensions: overall: 86 x 104 3/8 in. (218.4 x 265.1 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1987.3.01-32.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Grand Ducal Collection, Florence, Tuscany (probably under tenure of Ferdinand III [1769-1824], but certainly still with his son, Leopold II [1747-1792], whose seal is on the reverse of one of the panels).
[Böhm, Josef Daniel, Vienna, sold 31 May 1845 to];
Count Czernin, Vienna and London (sale, London, Christie’s, 7 July 1972, lot 14, ill., to);
[Speelman, London];
Norton Simon Art Foundation.
[on loan]
- Princeton University Art Museum, 1972-07-20 to
[on loan]
- Kunsthaus Zürich, to
- Longhi, R., Paragone, p. 38
- D'Arcais, F., Arte Veneta, fig. 13 pp. 9-10, 18
- White, J., The Burlington Magazine, pp. 517-526
- Sandberg-Vavalà, E., Art in America, p. 29
- Rowlands, J., The Burlington Magazine, p. 422
- Sandberg-Vavalà, E., Art in America, pls. F, H pp. 3-15
- Crowe, J.; and G. Cavalcaselle, A History of Painting in Italy, no. 1 p. 241
- Berenson, Bernhard, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance, p. 268
- Suida, W., Belvedere, pp. 11-14
- Eitelberger, R., Osterreichische Blatter für Literatur, 1847, p. 993
- Cavalcaselle, G., Storia della Pittura Italiana, 1873, no. 1 p. 313
- Waagen, G., Die Vornehmsten Kunstdenkmaler in Wien, 1886, pt. 1, no. 22 p. 302
- Schlosser, J., Jahrbuch der Kunstsammlungen, 1896, no. 3 p. 16
- Katalog der Graf Czernin'schen Gemälde-Galerie in Wien, 1899, no. 22
- Frimmel, T. von, Blatter für Gemäldekunde, 1904, p. 101
- Frimmel, T. von, Lexikon der Wiener Gemäldesammlungen, 1913, pp. 190-191
- Coletti, L., Rivista d'Arte, 1930, pp. 330, 352, 359
- Suida, W., Belvedere, 1930, p. 67
- Fitzgerald, A., Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, 1931, pp. 167, 188, 192
- Wilczek, K., Katalog der Graf Czerninschen Gemäldegalerie in Wien, 1936, no. 22
- Coletti, L., I Padani, 1947,
- Coletti, L., I Primitivi, 1947, pp. l, liv-lv
- Toesca, P., Storia dell'Arte Italiana, Il Trecento, 1951, pp. 714-717
- Hutter, H., Jahrbuch der Kunst Sammlunger in Wien, 1964, pp. 35-58
- D'Arcais, F., tGuariento, 1965, pp. 15-19, 74-76
- Kruft, H., Neue Literatur zur oberitalianischen Malerei des Trecento, 1966, p. 335
- Berenson, Bernhard, Italian Pictures of the Renaissance: Central Italian and North Italian Schools, 1968, pl. 238 p. 205
- Fiocco, G., Verona e il suo territorio, 1969, pt. 2 p. 195
- Bettini, S. and L. Puppi, La chiesa degli Eremitani di Padova, 1970, pp. 37, 43
- Palluchini, R., La Pittura Veneziana del Trecento, 1974, pp. 107-108
- D'Arcais, F., Guariento: tutta la pittura, 1974, pp. 18-22, 52, 59, 62-63
- Kaftal, G., Iconography of the Saints in the Painting of North East Italy, 1978, pp. 580, 693, 888
- White, John, Studies in Late Medieval Italian Art, 1984,
- Brown, H., A Corpus of Trecento Pictures with Musical Subject Matter, 1986, pp. 232-233
- Masterpieces from the Norton Simon Museum, 1989, pp. 10-11
- Caroselli, Susan L., Italian Panel Painting of the Early Renaissance in the Collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1994, fig. 5 pp. 13-14
- Siena, Florence and Padua: Art, Society and Religion 1280-1400, 1995, pp. 211-212, 262, 266, 278
- Tieto, Paolo, Respice Stellam, 1998, pp. v-vi.
- Banzato, Davide, Giotto e il suo tempo, 2000, pp. 176-177, 180
- Tieto, Paolo, Madre di Dio: Iconografia mariana lungo i secoli a Piove di Sacco, 2000, pp. 27-28, 29-31
- Dyrness, William, Visual Faith: Art, Theology and Worship in Dialogue, 2001, fig. 11 p. 43
- Douglas Alton Smith, A History of the Lute from Antiquity to the Renaissance, 2002, fig. 10 p. 24
- Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia Vol. 1 A to K, 2004, 465
- D'Arcais, Francesca, et. al., Guariento: il maestro degli angeli, 2011, Fig. 3 p. 19
- Z. Murat, Guariento: Pittore di corte, maestro de naturale, 2015, pp. 30-32, 57-59, and tavv. VI-VII
- Juffinger, Roswitha and Imma Walderdorff, Czernin: Verzeichnis der Gemälde, 2015,
Related Media
Additional Artwork by Artist
Image reproduction permission may be granted for scholarly or arts related commercial use. All image requests, regardless of their intended purpose, should be submitted via the reproduction request form.
Images may be protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights. Additional permission may be required.
Please allow up to four weeks for your request to be reviewed. Approved requests for the reproduction of an image will receive a contract detailing all fees and conditions of use of the image. Upon receipt of both the signed contract and full payment, the Office of Rights and Reproductions will provide the image. A complimentary copy of the published material must be provided to the Norton Simon Museum.