Filippo Lippi’s Coronation of the Virgin is a masterful painting commissioned by Francesco Maringhi for the church of Sant’Ambrogio. The altarpiece displays exceptional splendour and detail, depicting the coronation of the Virgin along with other holy persons. The painting was meant to adorn the oratory of the Queen of Heaven, making it fittingly grand in appearance.
Lippi had to enlist six external painters to complete this masterpiece, who were responsible for creating the gilded frame which is now lost over time. Unfortunately, only one panel from its original predella has survived – a Miracle of St Ambrose that lies today in Berlin’s State Museum.
Filippo Lippi painted another version of this subject called Marsuppini Coronation for Carlo Marsuppini several years later when he was working in Florence.
Though created more than half a millennium ago, contemporary artists and art enthusiasts can still appreciate Lippi’s style, as they can purchase prints and other merchandise with his work through different mediums.
