Author
Neapolitan School
Date
Early 17th century
Technique
Polychrome gilded wood
Size
Height 112 cm
Description:
This couple of angels is connected to the conspicuous production of wooden works of a sacred character that spread in Siena from the 15th century onward.
Prototypes to which our artist drew inspiration are the bronze candelabra-holding Angels made for Siena Cathedral between 1488 and 1492 and the work of Domenico Beccafumi.
The iconography of the two recalls in their robes, shoes and especially in their pose, a compositional solution that became established in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Neapolitan workshops.
Wooden sculpture was often executed by several artists and had to be able to combine the carving of the sculptor and the skill of the painter, who was responsible for the application of gilding and polychromy to achieve as naturalistic a rendering as possible.