Angel of the Annunciation

c. 1340

A freestanding, winged angel with a halo is carved from white marble streaked with gray. In this view, the angel’s body faces us, and the head turns slightly to our left. Curls frame a round face with delicate features in front of a flat, plate-like halo. The angel’s long robe is pinned at the chest, tied around the waist, and falls in thick folds into puddles around the feet. The angel holds one hand up with the first two fingers raised and holds a scroll down by the hip with the other hand. One pointed shoe peeks from under the robe, which almost covers the round base on which the angel stands. The sculpture is photographed against a pale gray background.

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    marble

  • Credit Line

    Samuel H. Kress Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 61.6 x 22.9 x 18.1 cm (24 1/4 x 9 x 7 1/8 in.)

  • Accession

    1960.5.10

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Stefano Bardini [1836-1922], Florence.[1] Prince Johan II of Liechtenstein [1840-1929], Vienna, by 1896;[2] Prince Franz I of Liechtenstein [1853-1938]; Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein [1906-1989]; acquired 2 April 1953 by (J. Seligmann & Co., New York);[3] purchased February 1954 by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York;[4] gift 1960 to NGA.
[1] See correspondence in NGA curatorial files between Alison Luchs and Fiorenza Scalia, director of the Museo Bardini, dated 27 February, 7 May, and 26 June 1991.
[2] Bode, Wilhelm von, Die Fürstlich Leichtensteinsche Gemäldegalerie, Vienna, 1896: 130.
[3] See letters addressed to Jacques Seligmann & Company from the Director of the Liechtenstein Collection, dated 2 April 1953, in the Jacques Seligmann & Co. Records, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington: Box 244; copies in NGA curatorial files.
[4] An agreement was made in September 1953 with Seligmann & Co. by the Kress Foundation to purchase this sculpture (and others) on 1 February 1954. The invoice bears this date, and payment was made shortly thereafter. Copies of the correspondence and invoice are in NGA curatorial files. Ulrich Middeldorf's entry that includes the sculpture contains an error: the year of the Kress Foundation's acquisition is incorrectly given as 1953 (Sculptures from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools XIV-XIX Century, London, 1976: 12).

Associated Names

Bibliography

1896

  • Bode, Wilhelm von. Die Fürstlich Leichtensteinsche Gemäldegalerie. Vienna, 1896: 130.

1954

  • Jacques Seligmann & Co., Inc. A Catalogue of Seven Marble Sculptures of the Italian Trecento and Quattrocento from the Collection of his Highness the Prince of Liechtenstein. New York, 1954: 24, repro., as Master of the Mascoli Altar.

1956

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Kress Collection Acquired by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation 1951-56. Introduction by John Walker, text by William E. Suida and Fern Rusk Shapley. National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1956: 248-250, no. 101, repro., as by Master of the Mascoli Alter.

1959

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Samuel H. Kress Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959: 393, repro., as by Master of the Mascoli Altar.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 162, as by Master of the Mascoli Altar.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 143, repro., as by Master of the Mascoli Altar.

1976

  • Middeldorf, Ulrich. Sculptures from the Samuel H. Kress Collection: European Schools XIV-XIX Century. London, 1976: 12.

  • Wolters, Wolfgang. La Scultura Veneziana Gotica (1300-1460). 2 vols. Venice, 1976: 1:165, no. 36; 2:fig. 120.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 226, repro.

1999

  • Norman Herz, Katherine A. Holbrow and Shelley G. Sturman. "Marble Sculture in the National Gallery of Art: a Provenance Study." In Max Schvoerer, ed. Archéomatériaux: marbres et autres roches: ASMOSIA IV, Bordeaux, France 9-13 october 1995: actes de la IVème Conférence international de l’Association pour l’étude des marbres et autres roches utilizes dans le passé. Talence, 1999: 101-110, esp. 104, 106-107; repro. 107.

2014

  • Bourdua, Louise. "What Petrarch Saw: Venice Revisited in the Later Middle Ages." Center, Record of Activities and Research Reports 34 (2014): 61-63.

Wikidata ID

Q63854423

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