The majestic altarpiece executed around 1475 is one of the undisputed masterpieces of the Renaissance. Painted for the Pesaro church of San Francesco, it was built in Venice and, since its arrival in Pesaro, it immediately became an object of devotion by the faithful. The table depicts the Virgin enthroned, being crowned by Jesus assisted by Saints Peter and Paul on the left, Jerome and Francis on the right; behind a window reveals a realistic landscape image, with a fortress, a real picture within the picture. Framed by pillars with two rows of saints, the central scene suggests an eternal immobility, while the story becomes dynamic and almost theatrical of the predella below, with the lively hagiographic stories. The work was brought to Paris by Napoleonic troops in 1797 as war booty and then returned to the papal government thanks to the mediation of Antonio Canova. Dismembered and sent back to Pesaro by sea, it is deprived of the top panel depicting the embalming of Christ, kept for the collection of the newly established Vatican Pinacoteca.
