on 27 May 1631. The surrounding marble frame is a
ciborium by
Donatello di Niccolò di Betto Bardi — The
Sacristy of
Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome. The enactment of the rite of the coronation of a venerated image became widely popular in the
Papal States prior to 1800, when approximately 300 coronation ceremonies were performed. On 29 March 1897, an official rite titled
Ordo Servandus in Tradendis Coronis Aureis Quæ Donantur a Reverendisimi Capitulo Sancti Petri de Urbe Sacris imaginibus Beatæ Mariæ Virginis was included in the
Roman Pontifical, for which a
plenary indulgence was also conceded to the faithful who participated in such rites. • The first Marian image ceremoniously crowned without direct papal approbation was performed by Cardinal
Orazio Spinola for the Madonna of the Vineyards venerated at the Basilica of
Santa Maria delle Vigne in
Genoa on 5 April 1616.
Pope Benedict XV later granted a decree of coronation titled
Quae Civitatis Istius on 1 November 1920, signed and executed by the Archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal
Tommaso Pio Boggiani in honor of the Pope's native birthplace. • The first image of the
Blessed Virgin Mary that was pontifically crowned was
Lippo Memmi's painting of
La Madonna della Febbre in the
sacristy of
Saint Peter's Basilica in
Rome on 27 May 1631, by
Pope Urban VIII through the Vatican Chapter. • The first Marian image pontifically crowned outside of Rome was the
Our Lady of Trsat of
Croatia on 8 September 1715 by
Pope Clement XI. • The first Marian image personally crowned by a pope himself was the Madonna del Popolo on 3 June 1782 by
Pope Pius VI at the
Cesena Cathedral. • The first image of Christ granted a decree of canonical coronation was granted by
Pope Leo XII for the
Infant Jesus of Prague on 24 September 1824. The image is now enshrined at the Carmelite
Church of Our Lady of Victories in
Prague, Czech Republic. • The first image of Saint Joseph that granted a decree of canonical coronation by
Pope Pius VI was for the Sanctuary of Saint Joseph in
Kalisz, Poland on 15 May 1796.
Pope John XXIII gifted the venerated image his personal ring, accompanied with an "epistle of consecration" in 1963. Accordingly, its paired
Madonna and Child ensemble merited their own separate pontifical decrees in 1984 under the auspices of
Pope John Paul II. == Enshrinement of the rite ==