Coronation of the Virgin

In 1486 Ghirlandaio's workshop painted a grand Coronation of the Virgin for the Franciscans of Narni, Christ setting a crown on his kneeling mother while tiers of saints and a choir of angels fill the space below. It was admired enough to be repeated, and this panel is one of those repetitions. That is why its authorship is debated. Long carried under Ghirlandaio's own name, it is now generally seen as the work of his busy Florentine shop reusing a proven design, rather than the master's own hand. Such workshops ran like small factories, and a good composition was capital to be spent again. The original still hangs in Narni, to the south, while this careful echo of it stayed here in Città di Castello.