The Coronation of the Virgin

The present work is a variant of the upper canvas of a retable in the church of the Carmelites in San José, Avila, that was painted in 1674 (see the exhibition catalogue, Carreno, Rizi, Herrera y la Pintura Madrilena de su Tiempo 1650-1700, Prado, Madrid, 1986, p. 82, illustrated). The Avila picture thus dates from the period when the artist was working chiefly outside the capital whereas Ricci painted the present work, signed and dated 1681, when he had renewed his contact with the court and was back in Madrid.