Jacopo Torriti
The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Detail, the Virgin

13th century
Mosaic
Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome

In 12th-century images Christ and Mary share a single throne and both wear crowns, but this mosaic goes one step further and shows Christ actually placing the crown on Mary's head. This innovation will become the traditional way of picturing the Coronation in subsequent eras.

View the entire apse.
Read more about images of the Coronation of the Virgin Mary.

Source: Photographed at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.