The Coronation of the Virginc. 1475

In a wide, arched panel, a bearded man wearing a crown places another crown on the head of a woman. To our right, the woman bows her head with her eyes nearly closed and crosses her wrists over her chest. A white cloak covers her head, drapes over her shoulders, and pools in deep folds around her feet. The cloak is lined with pine green, and she wears a shell-pink dress. To our left, the man has shoulder-length, curly gray hair and a beard. His robe is dark rose pink, and the cloak is azure blue lined with pine green. Two winged angels have brown hair, short, white wings, and wear voluminous white robes. They stand to either side of the man and woman and hold up a swag of raspberry-red cloth hung with gold tassels. All the people have pale, peachy skin. Winged baby heads encircled with gold rays create an arch behind the man and woman, who sit on clouds. The background is pale blue sky.

Description from the National Gallery of Art.

Filippino Lippi painted this in about 1475, aged 18. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

How it was made

Tempera

Pigment bound with egg yolk. It dries in minutes and can’t be blended wet, so painters built up form with fine, hatched strokes. It was Europe’s main panel technique before oil.

Oil paint

Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.