Adoring Angel from the funerary monument of Bartolomeo Aragazzi thumbnail 1
Adoring Angel from the funerary monument of Bartolomeo Aragazzi thumbnail 2
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Adoring Angel from the funerary monument of Bartolomeo Aragazzi

Figure
1427-1438 (carved)
Artist/Maker
Bartolomeo, Michelozzo Di (sculptor)
Place of origin
Florence (made)

This figure relief and the companion figure (934A-1904) formed part of the monument of Bartolommeo Aragazzi (d.1429), poet, humanist and secretary to Pope Martin V, in the Pieve at Montepulciano. When the church was demolished in 1617, the monument was disassembled and never reconstructed. The other portions which have survived are now preserved in the Cathedral at Montepulciano. The monument was commissioned by Aragazzi from the joint studio of Donatello and Michelozzo in or shortly before 1427 and was completed in 1438. All the surviving sculptures from the tomb are by Michelozzo. The face of 934A-1904 has been broken and restored in marble, and the tips of the forward wings of both Angels have also been made up or replaced. The two Angels may have been set above the effigy of Aragazzi, flanking a statue variously identified as the Risen Christ and St Bartholomew, or beside a Virgin and Child in the lunette. Insufficient evidence survives to allow an accurate reconstruction of the tomb design.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Religion
Christianity
Object type
Figure
TitleAdoring Angel from the funerary monument of Bartolomeo Aragazzi (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Carved marble
Marble
Carving
Brief description
Figure relief (one of a pair), 'Adoring Angel from the funerary monument of Bartolomeo Aragazzi', carved marble, by Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, Italy (Florence), 1427-38
Physical description
Marble figure of an adoring angel, marble. The figure of an adoring angel is represented with wings outstretched in three-quarter length facing to the right. The hands are crossed on the breast. The hair falls in long ringlets on the neck.
Dimensions
  • Height: 97.2cm
  • Width: 100.3cm
  • Depth: 36cm
  • Weight: 227kg
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Gallery label
(2009)
Two Adoring Angels
About 1430–8
Michelozzo di Bartolomeo (1396–1472)

These companion figures come from an elaborate monument dedicated
to Bartolommeo Aragazzi, poet, scholar and secretary to Pope Martin V. He
commissioned the monument himself, from the joint studio of Donatello and Michelozzo who were partners from about 1425 to 1433. The elaborate tomb was
disassembled in 1617 and we do not know exactly how it looked. The angels probably flanked a figure above the effigy, or a Virgin and Child in the crowning lunette.

Italy, Florence
Marble
From the Pieve at Montepulciano
Museum nos. 934&A-1904
934-1904
Adoring Angel
Marble
By Michelozzo di Bartolommeo (1396-1472)
Florentine; about 1430-38
This and the companion figure (934A-1904) formed part of the monument of Bartolommeo Aragazzi (d.1429), poet, humanist and secretary to Pope Martin V, in the Pieve at Montepulciano. When the church was demolished in 1617, the monument was disassembled and never reconstructed. The other portions which have survived are now preserved in the Cathedral at Montepulciano. The monument was commissioned by Aragazzi from the joint studio of Donatello and Michelozzo in or shortly before 1427 and was completed in 1438. All the surviving sculptures from the tomb are by Michelozzo. The face of 934A-1904 has been broken and restored in marble, and the tips of the forward wings of both Angels have also been made up or replaced. The two Angels may have been set above the effigy of Aragazzi, flanking a statue variously identified as the Risen Christ and St Bartholomew, or beside a Virgin and Child in the lunette. Insufficient evidence survives to allow an accurate reconstruction of the tomb design.
Object history
This and the companion figure (934A-1904), formed part of the monument of Bartolomeo Aragazzi (d.1429), poet, humanist and secretary to Pope Martin V, in the Pieve at Montepulciano. When the church was demolished in 1617, the monument was disassembled and never reconstructed. The other portions which have survived are now preserved in the Cathedral at Montepulciano. The monument was commissioned by Aragazzi from the joint studio of Donatello and Michelozzo in or shortly before 1427 and was completed in 1438. All of the surviving sculptures from the tomb are by Michelozzo.
Production
The whole monument was commissioned from the joint studio of Donatello and Michelozzo, although all surviving parts of the monument are from Michelozzo.
Subjects depicted
Angels
Wings
Summary
This figure relief and the companion figure (934A-1904) formed part of the monument of Bartolommeo Aragazzi (d.1429), poet, humanist and secretary to Pope Martin V, in the Pieve at Montepulciano. When the church was demolished in 1617, the monument was disassembled and never reconstructed. The other portions which have survived are now preserved in the Cathedral at Montepulciano. The monument was commissioned by Aragazzi from the joint studio of Donatello and Michelozzo in or shortly before 1427 and was completed in 1438. All the surviving sculptures from the tomb are by Michelozzo. The face of 934A-1904 has been broken and restored in marble, and the tips of the forward wings of both Angels have also been made up or replaced. The two Angels may have been set above the effigy of Aragazzi, flanking a statue variously identified as the Risen Christ and St Bartholomew, or beside a Virgin and Child in the lunette. Insufficient evidence survives to allow an accurate reconstruction of the tomb design.
Associated object
934A-1904 (Set)
Bibliographic references
  • Motture, Peta, ed., Donatello: Sculpting the Renaissance, London: V&A Publishing, 2023. cat. 1.30A, pp. 138-139, entry by Peta Motture
  • Motture, Peta in Paolozzi Strozzi, Beatrice and Bormand, Marc (eds), Springtime of the Renaissance. Sculpture and the Arts in Florence, 1400-1460 [exh. cat. Palazzo Strozzi, Florence and Musée du Louvre, Paris, 2013-14], Florence and Paris, 2013
  • Myssok, Johannes.' Tomb of Bartolomeo Aragazzi', in: Boström, Antonia (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Sculpture. New York, London, 2004, II, pp. 1082-83
  • Clayton, Martin. 'Michelozzo's Aragazzi Tomb: a revised Reconstruction. In: Studi di storia dell' arte, V-VI, 1994-95
  • Poeschke, Joachim. Die Skulptur der Renaissance in Italien, Band I. Donatello und seine Zeit, (Munich, 1990), p. 123, figs 43, 44
  • Herzner, Volker. 'Review' of Lightbown's 'Donatello e Michelozzo: An Artistic Partnership and its Patrons in the Early Rennaissance', in: Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, XLIV, 1981, pp. 300-13, esp. 308-12
  • Lightbown, Ronald W. Donatello e Michelozzo: An Artistic Partnership and its Patrons in the Early Renaissance, London 1980, pp. 128-229, particularly pp. 198-99, 212-14, 222-23
  • Schulz, Anne Markham. The Sculpture of Bernardo Rossellino and his Workshop. Princeton 1977, p. 23, 29
  • Avery, Charles. Florentine Renaissance Sculpture. New York, 1970. p. 73 and pl. 52
  • Seymour Jr., Charles Sculpture in Italy 1400-1500 Pelican History of Art, Harmondsworth 1966. pp. 88, 234, note 19.
  • Pope-Hennessy, John, assisted by Lightbown, Ronald. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume I: Text. Eighth to Fifteenth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, pp. 100-103.
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, pp. 27, 28
  • Inventory of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in the Years 1903 - 1904. In: List of Works of Art Acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum, During the Year 1904, Arranged According to the Dates of Acquisition with Appendix and Indices. London: Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Wyman and Sons, Limited, 1908, p. 157
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
934-1904

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Record createdFebruary 20, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O93483/adoring-angel-from-the-funerary-figure-bartolomeo-michelozzo-di/
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