Angel
Statuette
ca. 1520 (made)
ca. 1520 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Object Type
The angel, dressed as a deacon, is an extremely rare survival of a Late Medieval French free-standing sculpture in metal. It was probably originally set on a column alongside another angel or angels near the altar, and would have held two of the so-called Instruments of the Passion, the objects used in the torture and Crucifixion of Christ. The shape of the hands suggests that the two Instruments were the nails used at the Crucifixion.
People
The angel was acquired before 1784 by Horace Walpole (1717-1797) for his neo-Gothic house near London, Strawberry Hill at Twickenham. Many sculptures of this date were soon to become available to British collectors - the result of the French Revolution in 1789 and the following wars that ended with Waterloo in 1815. But Walpole, together with a small circle of others, was a pioneer in re-awakening an interest in the art of the Middle Ages before then.
Places
Antiquarians of the late 18th century and early 19th collected such objects in order to create atmospheric interiors and settings for their houses. This effect was certainly achieved by Walpole's angel in the garden Oratory at Strawberry Hill, where it remained until 1842.
The angel, dressed as a deacon, is an extremely rare survival of a Late Medieval French free-standing sculpture in metal. It was probably originally set on a column alongside another angel or angels near the altar, and would have held two of the so-called Instruments of the Passion, the objects used in the torture and Crucifixion of Christ. The shape of the hands suggests that the two Instruments were the nails used at the Crucifixion.
People
The angel was acquired before 1784 by Horace Walpole (1717-1797) for his neo-Gothic house near London, Strawberry Hill at Twickenham. Many sculptures of this date were soon to become available to British collectors - the result of the French Revolution in 1789 and the following wars that ended with Waterloo in 1815. But Walpole, together with a small circle of others, was a pioneer in re-awakening an interest in the art of the Middle Ages before then.
Places
Antiquarians of the late 18th century and early 19th collected such objects in order to create atmospheric interiors and settings for their houses. This effect was certainly achieved by Walpole's angel in the garden Oratory at Strawberry Hill, where it remained until 1842.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Angel (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Cast latten (copper alloy) |
| Brief description | Statuette, latten (copper alloy), angel dressed as a deacon, France (Ile de France), after 1516 |
| Physical description | Cast figure of an angel with finely chiselled hair parted at the centre, and his gaze directed towards the viewer. The angel wears liturgical vestments, a cope fastened wit a morse over an alb. The borders of the cope are decorated with lozenge-shaped and round forms probably meant to simulate precious stones in their settings, and the hood falling over the angel's shoulders is decorated with a tassel. The statuette's back has two T-shaped slots for wings which are no longer present. A casting flaw on the back of the statuette has been patched with an ornamented scrap showing parts of an interlacing motif, and of a scallop shell. The statuette has very small, round iron core pins and no internal supports. The hands, cast separately, are secured with large pins. On the back there are further markings: three dots under the proper right T-shaped hole, and four dots under the proper left. There are also hash marks where the hands insert into the figure, one on the top of the proper left hand, and two on the top of the proper right hand. |
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| Gallery label |
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| Object history | Provenance: Horace Walpole (before 1784); 1842, Strawberry Hill Sale, Day 19, lot 28 bt Zimmerman, £3.5.0; 1977, July 14, Sotheby's, lot 188, bt Anonymous, £30,000; 1981, November 27, Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, lot 5, bt Daniel Katz, London; 1982, purchased by the Victoria and Albert Museum. The earliest record of the statuette is 1784, when it was in the collection of Horace Walpole (1717-1797), and mentioned in the Description of the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole at Strawberry Hill near Twickenham, here described as follows: 'Entering by the great North Gate, the first object that presents itself is a small oratory enclosed with iron rails; in front, an altar, on which stands a saint in bronze'. The bronze is also illustrated in the frontispiece of the book, and features in a darwing by Carter of the view of the Oratory looking west (Bull 1784, p. 29). The gestures of the angel's hands suggest that he may originally have held something; both a reliquary and candles have been suggested. The dots below the T-shaped holes have suggested that the angel may have formed one of a pair, but no trace of this possible counterpart has survived. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | Object Type The angel, dressed as a deacon, is an extremely rare survival of a Late Medieval French free-standing sculpture in metal. It was probably originally set on a column alongside another angel or angels near the altar, and would have held two of the so-called Instruments of the Passion, the objects used in the torture and Crucifixion of Christ. The shape of the hands suggests that the two Instruments were the nails used at the Crucifixion. People The angel was acquired before 1784 by Horace Walpole (1717-1797) for his neo-Gothic house near London, Strawberry Hill at Twickenham. Many sculptures of this date were soon to become available to British collectors - the result of the French Revolution in 1789 and the following wars that ended with Waterloo in 1815. But Walpole, together with a small circle of others, was a pioneer in re-awakening an interest in the art of the Middle Ages before then. Places Antiquarians of the late 18th century and early 19th collected such objects in order to create atmospheric interiors and settings for their houses. This effect was certainly achieved by Walpole's angel in the garden Oratory at Strawberry Hill, where it remained until 1842. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.3-1982 |
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| Record created | March 27, 2003 |
| Record URL |
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