Capital V with the Coronation of Mary

14th or 15th century
From a gradual in the Museum of the Franciscan Monastery, Zadar

The image is typical of the later Middle Ages. On a shared throne, Christ places a crown on Mary's head with his right hand. In this instance, his left hand holds a scroll. In other versions it will be a sceptre.

Elephants appear in scripture only in 1 and 2 Maccabees, where they figure in the armies arrayed against the Jews. In the lore of saints, I know of only one reference to them, in a riddle posed to St. Clement in the Golden Legend.

View this image in full resolution.
Read more about images of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary.

• Home Page
• Coronation of the Virgin Mary
• This Page

Photographed at the monastery by Claire Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.