Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index


  • Title: Coronation of the Virgin
  • Creator: Enguerrand de Quarton, artist
  • Description: The Virgin is Crowned by the Trinity. God the Father and God the Son are represented as identical youthful bearded males while the Holy Spirit appears as a dove that hovers between them. This central group is surrounded by angels and the elect in heaven. Below this scene is the crucified Christ with a donor kneeling to the right. Below the cross the Last Judgment unfolds beneath depictions of the cities of Rome and Jerusalem. Angels receive the souls of the saved beneath Jerusalem, and a Mass of St. Gregory occurs in a church to the far left. Meanwhile the damned are tormented in hell beneath Rome. According to the detailed contract for this work, it was to serve as an altarpiece in the church of the Carthusians, Villeneuve-les-Avignon, on the altar dedicated to Jerusalem.
  • Source: WikiMedia Commons
  • Rights: Public domain
  • Subject (See Also): Angels Donor Portraits Jerusalem Last Judgment Mary, Virgin, Saint- Coronation in Art Mass of St. Gregory Rome Trinity
  • Geographic Area: France
  • Century: 15
  • Date: 1454
  • Related Work:
  • Current Location: Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, Musée Municipal
  • Original Location: Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, Chartreuse du Val de Bénédictione, a Carthusian church
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Paintings
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Panel paintings; Tempera
  • Donor: Male religious; Jean de Montagnac, a priest who commissioned it for the altar of the Carthusian church
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 183cm/220cm/
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: For a translation of the contract: Holt, Elizabeth G. A Documentary History of Art. New York: Doubleday, 1957. 298, 301-302.