Model for an Angel

Description

Annibale Fontana created this wax model, perhaps in part for the patron’s approval, while preparing a sculpture for the Church of Santa Maria presso San Celso in Milan. The angel was mounted high on the facade, so the composition needed to be impeccably balanced as well as legible from the ground. Wings and a trumpet appear in the final work, but Fontana here concentrates on the deep folds, clinging drapery, and forceful pose.

Provenance

Rene Gott S.A. (Geneva, Switzerland) and Thomas Howard-Sneyd (London, England), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1984.

Model for an Angel

Annibale Fontana

c. 1583–84

Accession Number

1984.38

Medium

wax on a metal armature, mounted on wood

Dimensions

Overall: 54 x 16 x 26 cm (21 1/4 x 6 5/16 x 10 1/4 in.)

Classification

Sculpture

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund