Colijn de Coter (Netherlandish, c. 1450– by 1540)
Virgin and Child Crowned by Angels
INV-1625
Colijn de Coter (Netherlandish, c. 1450– by 1540)c. 1490
Virgin and Child Crowned by Angels
Colijn de Coter (Netherlandish, c. 1450– by 1540) →15th centuryoil on paneloil on board
Date
c. 1490
Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
151.9 × 88.6 cm (59 13/16 × 34 7/8 in.); Framed: 179.8 × 117.2 × 16.6 cm (70 3/4 × 46 1/8 × 6 1/2 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
The gold text on the bottom edge of the Virgin Mary’s red mantle translates as “Hail, Queen of the heavens, Mother of the king of angels.” These lines, from a hymn called a Marian antiphon, were famously set to music as a choral composition in the 15th century. This kind of polyphonic music, requiring multiple trained voices employed at great expense, was associated with the extravagant culture of the Brussels court. Its evocation here, like the bejeweled crown lowered onto Mary’s head, serves to honor the Virgin and to inspire aural worship.
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