NARDO DI CIONE
(b. ca. 1320, Firenze, d. ca. 1365, Firenze)

Coronation of the Virgin

1340-60
Tempera on poplar panel, 118 x 78 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Nardo di Cione was the brother of Andrea di Cione called Orcagna and Jacopo di Cione with whom he often collaborated. They ran together one of the leading Florentine workshops in the mid-14th century. He executed a number of frescoes, a very few of which have survived in poor conditions and several polyptych panels.

This panel showing Christ in a red and blue dress in the act of crowning the Virgin, in black and white garments, is believed to have constituted the central panel of a triptych. The coronation of the Virgin was a popular subject in Gothic and late Gothic Italy up to the 18th century although its imagery considerably evolved over the centuries.

The panel must been reduced and cut off on the edges. The bottom of the panel most likely showed a group of angels attending the ceremony and playing musical instruments such as in these two Coronation of the Virgin respectively by Agnolo Gaddi (National Gallery, London), and Giotto, (Baroncelli Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence). These large compositions tent to be chopped off and sold separately to increase profits during the 19th century.