Angel from an Architectural Reliquary

Description

This beautiful Gothic angel is probably a surviving element from a large architectural reliquary. The last clue to its lost context disappeared when the symbolic attribute was twisted from the angel’s fingers, possibly during the destructive zeal of the French Revolution. The technique and style are characteristic of the lay workshops employed by the Valois courts during the early 1400s.

Provenance

(Blumka Gallery, New York, NY, sold to Mrs. Alfred M. Rankin) (?–1971); Mrs. Alfred M. [Clara Taplin] Rankin [b. 1917], given to the Cleveland Museum of Art (1971–1972); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1972–)

Angel from an Architectural Reliquary

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c. 1400

Accession Number

1972.74

Medium

gilt bronze

Dimensions

Overall: 8.6 cm (3 3/8 in.)

Classification

Sculpture

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Alfred M. Rankin