Vatican Museums

The Poor Clares of the convent of Monteluce near Perugia (hence the painting is usually called "Madonna of Monteluce") commissioned the young Raphael an altarpiece with the Assumption of the Virgin in 1503. Subsequently two other contracts were signed (1505, 1516) for a painting that would illustrate the Crowning of the Virgin. On the death of Raphael (1520) the work was not yet completed and in fact only some drawings were ready. A new contract (1523) was therefore drawn up with his assistants Giulio Romano and Gianfrancesco Penni, who finally delivered the altarpiece in 1525. The work is made up of two parts, painted on different occasions and then joined together. The most likely hypothesis is that the upper panel with the Crowning of the Virgin (probably begun as a sketch by Raphael) is the work of Giulio Romano, while for the lower part with the Apostles gathered around a tomb covered in flowers an altarpiece by Gianfrancesco Penni was used. This had been commissioned by Agostino Chigi for the family chapel in S. Maria del Popolo, but then refused.