Coronation of the Virgin
- Artist: Peter Paul Rubens
- Date: (circa) 1613 - 1620
- Medium: oil on panel
- Museum: The Courtauld Gallery
- Collection record: The Courtauld Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Coronation of the Virgin” by Peter Paul Rubens. These freely painted sketches were made as a prelude to two ceiling panels, which explains the flattened format and the sense of looking up. On the left side the scene shows Christ being tempted by the devil—turning stones into bread and breaking his fast—while on the right Christ crowns his mother Mary as she ascends to heaven. From these studies Rubens’s assistants completed the final canvases, which formed part of a series of 39 large paintings for the Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Antwerp. The finished works were finished in 1621, but a century later lightning struck the church and a fire destroyed them all.
The sketches themselves date from about 1613‑1620 and are oil on panel. Count Antoine Seilern’s collection contained over sixty Rubens works; he was especially fascinated by reconstructing lost projects, a passion that led him to acquire these studies in 1933, the same year he began his art‑history studies at Vienna University. The sketch of Saint Gregory, purchased then, was Rubens’s very first painting. These preparatory drawings give us a rare glimpse into Rubens’s creative process and the ambition of his grand architectural commissions.
See it in person
Coronation of the Virgin hangs in The Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, London. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
