A CARVED WOODEN FIGURE OF AN ANGEL

NORTHERN FRENCH, POSSIBLY PICARDY, LATE 13TH CENTURY

Details

A CARVED WOODEN FIGURE OF AN ANGEL
NORTHERN FRENCH, POSSIBLY PICARDY, LATE 13TH CENTURY

On an integrally carved base; the reverse with two slots for the insertion of wings, now lacking.
Extensive traces of polychromy; cracks; minor worming; the right hand lacking; other losses and damages.
33 7/8 in. (86 cm.) high

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
R. H. Randall Jr., 13th Century Altar Angels, Record of the Art Museum Princeton University, 1959, XVIII, pp. 2-16.
M. Aubert and M. Beaulieu, Description raisonnée des sculptures du moyen âge, de la renaissance et des temps modernes, vol. I, Moyen Age, Paris, 1950, no. 141, illustrated.
A. Erlande-Brandenburg, Musée national du Moyen Age Thermes de Cluny, Paris, 1993, pp. 134-135.

Lot Essay

The present angel was probably originally one of a pair designed for an altar, and appears to have held attributes, possibly relating to the passion. It is related to the group of pieces discussed by Randall (loc. cit.), and is particularly close to a wooden angel in the Louvre (Aubert and Beaulieu, loc. cit.). In one exceptional case - at Saint-Louis at Poissy - dating from this period, angels blowing trumpets or holding instruments of the passion accompanied a representation of the Last Judgement.

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