Coronation of Mary

Catarino Veneziano was a Venetian painter active in the second half of the fourteenth century, blending Byzantine pictorial traditions with the emerging Gothic style of the Adriatic. This Coronation of Mary, a subject of immense theological importance celebrating the Virgin's heavenly triumph, was a favored theme for large altarpieces in Italian churches. The work's presence in the Hermitage reflects the widespread dispersal of Italian Gothic panels to European collections in the nineteenth century.

Painted in egg tempera on panel with lavish gold ground, the composition centers on the enthroned Christ crowning the Virgin. The Byzantine-Venetian heritage is evident in the rigid frontality and ornamental richness of the textile patterns.