Angel thumbnail 1
Angel thumbnail 2
+5
images
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Cast Courts, Room 46b, The Weston Cast Court

Angel

Statue
1473-1476 (sculpted), ca. 1899 (cast)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This and its companion angel (V&A mus. no: Repro.1899-54) once adorned the altar of the Chapel of the Sacrament in the Lucca Cathedral and are made by Matteo Civitali in about 1496. They flanked a marble tabernacle, also by Civitali. Shortly after 1567 the angels and tabernacle were moved to the altar of a new chapel, where the angels remain today. Civitali's tabernacle is in now in the V&A (Museum no. 7569-1861; displayed in the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries). The plaster cast was probably made in Berlin in about 1899.

This a plaster cast from one of the two magnificent Cast Courts at the V&A. Since they were first opened in 1873, these galleries have displayed reproductions of some of the most significant monuments of medieval and Renaissance Europe.
In these galleries one can view plaster casts of sculptures from Renaissance Italy, notably some of the masterpieces produced by Donatello, Luca della Robbia and Michelangelo.
The sculptures are faithful copies of the originals. They were made in the 19th century, when the vogue for replicated works of art was at its height. Museum visitors at that time generally had little opportunity to travel abroad, and illustrated art books were costly. These superb casts could afford people a rare glimpse of the original sculptures, even if they could not visit Florence or Rome. Artists and designers then and now could likewise sketch and learn from them. The painted surfaces of these reproductions often mirror the original stone or bronze, and the casts seem convincingly monumental. But they are made of plaster, a relatively fragile material.







Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleAngel (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Plaster cast, painted
Brief description
Plaster cast, painted plaster, Angel (one of a pair), after the marble original in the Lucca Cathedral (the altar of the Cappella del Sacramento), by Matteo Civitali, Lucca, ca. 1899, cast, probably Berlin, Germany, ca. 1899
Physical description
Statue of a kneeling angel with hands in praying position.
Dimensions
  • Height: 921cm
Gallery label
Civitali’s original marble angels are in Lucca Cathedral. They once flanked a tabernacle made to house the sanctified bread used during the Mass. The graceful figures would have appealed to audiences in the 19th century, when the casts were made.(2014)
Object history
Acquired as an exchange with the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, Berlin, in 1899.
Historical context
The two angels formerly adorned the altar of the Chapel of the Sacrament, commissioned from Matteo Civitali by Domenico Bertini in 1473, which included a marble tabernacle, unfinished in 1476. Shortly after 1567, this altar was dismantled, when construction of a new Chapel of the Sacrament was undertaken in the right transept by Vincenzo Civitali. The angels and tabernacle were moved to the altar of the new chapel, where the angels remain today. After 1581, the tabernacle was replaced by a tabernacle by Vincenzo Civitali. Matteo Civitali's original tabernacle, signed OPVS MATTHAEI CIVITAL, is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (museum no. 7569-1861).
Subject depicted
Summary
This and its companion angel (V&A mus. no: Repro.1899-54) once adorned the altar of the Chapel of the Sacrament in the Lucca Cathedral and are made by Matteo Civitali in about 1496. They flanked a marble tabernacle, also by Civitali. Shortly after 1567 the angels and tabernacle were moved to the altar of a new chapel, where the angels remain today. Civitali's tabernacle is in now in the V&A (Museum no. 7569-1861; displayed in the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries). The plaster cast was probably made in Berlin in about 1899.

This a plaster cast from one of the two magnificent Cast Courts at the V&A. Since they were first opened in 1873, these galleries have displayed reproductions of some of the most significant monuments of medieval and Renaissance Europe.
In these galleries one can view plaster casts of sculptures from Renaissance Italy, notably some of the masterpieces produced by Donatello, Luca della Robbia and Michelangelo.
The sculptures are faithful copies of the originals. They were made in the 19th century, when the vogue for replicated works of art was at its height. Museum visitors at that time generally had little opportunity to travel abroad, and illustrated art books were costly. These superb casts could afford people a rare glimpse of the original sculptures, even if they could not visit Florence or Rome. Artists and designers then and now could likewise sketch and learn from them. The painted surfaces of these reproductions often mirror the original stone or bronze, and the casts seem convincingly monumental. But they are made of plaster, a relatively fragile material.





Associated objects
Collection
Accession number
REPRO.1899-53

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Record createdDecember 7, 1999
Record URL
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