Polyptych of Valle Romita

Italian artist Gentile da Fabriano painted this altarpiece around 1410-1412 for the Franciscan hermitage of Valle Romita near his birthplace. The work exemplifies the International Gothic style with its rich draperies, linear contours, and splendid costumes. The commission may have come from Chiavello Chiavelli, lord of Fabriano, who had the convent restored in 1406 to house his future tomb.

The central panel depicts the Coronation of the Virgin with a Trinity and choir of musician angels below. This scene draws from Byzantine mosaics Gentile had seen at Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice, with figures floating in air against a gold background. Four side panels show Saints Jerome, Francis, Dominic, and Mary Magdalene standing in a garden whose botanical species are painted with notable detail.

The polyptych measures 280 x 250 cm and is now at the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan. The upper panels were acquired separately from a private collection in 1901, and the neo-Gothic frame dates to 1925.