Giovanni di Paolo
The Coronation of the Virgin

Information provided by the Metropolitan Museum, New York:

Giovanni di Paolo, Italian (Siena), ca. 1400–1482
Tempera on panel; 70 5/8 x 51 11/16 in. (179.9 x 131.3 cm)
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975 (1975.1.38

The richly decorated surfaces and extensive use of silver and gold indicate that this panel—one of the artist's finest and best preserved works—derives from an important altarpiece, though its early history is not known. It is likely that a predella showing scenes from the life of the Virgin was originally below the main panel of the Coronation.

Provenance/Ownership History: The early provenance is unknown. The painting is illustrated in photographs of the Galleria Bardini, Florence, Italy, made about 1890 (for which see F. Scalia and C. de Benedictis, eds. Il Museum Bardini a Firenze, vol. I, 1984, pls. 73,74), and was published in 1907 as in the possession of Stefano Bardini (F.M. Perkins, "Ancora dei dipinti sconosciuti della scuola senese," Rassegna d'arte senese, 3, 1907, p. 82). According to an unconfirmed report, Bardini owned the painting for some thirty years. At some date after 1907 it was purchased by Alphonse Kann, Paris, France, from whom it was acquired by Philip Lehman in November 1913. Bequeathed by Philip Lehman to Pauline Ickleheimer. Acquired by Robert Lehman, New York, New York, in 1946.