An Angel Playing an Aulos (Flute)
Model: Padua, Italy, 1447; Cast: perhaps Italy, late 19th century
Bronze
58 x 21.9 x 3.5 cm
Donatello’s status as a pioneering sculptor of the 15th century was firmly established within his own lifetime. This relief, a simplified copy of one of the twelve angels from his complex multi-figural high altar at the church of St Antony in Padua, is testament to this fact and to Donatello’s continued popularity. The bronze is one of several made after the altar which, due to its format, due to its format, provided an easy way to transfer, piecemeal, Donatello’s large public commissions into collectable items for the art market.
Purchased 1950 (No. 50.10)
