Offered by Franck Baptiste Paris
Rare sculpture on all sides representing a blessing angel in finely chiseled and mercury-gilded bronze.
Simply dressed in a drapery that hides his sex, he has just stopped his flight and is standing on tiptoe with his wings still spread.
With his left hand he supports a large cornucopia that he holds against his body while his right arm is raised towards the sky and offers us a blessing with his hand.*
His chubby and smiling face shows us all his good nature and his joy of being on earth.
Presence of a small number "3" struck on the shoulder.
4 cm circular hole filled at the bottom of the neck. (formerly mounted as a fountain with a pipe that passed from the neck to the end of the cornucopia)
Very beautiful sand casting in nine assembled parts; very high quality of chiselling on the whole of the hair and wings and very fresh mercury gilding with double matte and shiny patina on all sides.
Very good state of conservation.
Italian work probably Roman from the second part of the 18th century.
Dimensions:
Height: 75 cm; Width: 65 cm; Depth: 45 cm
Our opinion:
The blessing sign of the hand with the little and ring fingers curved is an ancient paleo-Christian symbol.
This position of the fingers has several meanings, it forms the letters I and C of Jesus Christ; the two curved fingers also symbolize his two human and divine natures while the three other outstretched fingers represent the trinity.
This blessing sign is still widely used in the Orthodox religion and relatively little in the Roman religion where it is reserved for the sovereign pontiff.
The origin of this sign is attributed to St. Peter who blessed in this way because of a wound to his hand; we see him making this gesture on his famous statue in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
This exclusively Roman use probably directs us towards a production intended for one of the great churches of the Catholic capital.
Very close angels are visible on the bronze grilles of one of the chapels of the church of Del Gesu near the Capitoline Square, where each angel frames large bronze candelabra.
The number "3" affixed to the shoulder of our example indicates a much larger composition that is difficult to imagine given how exuberant the Roman churches are.
The exact positioning of the sculpture and its inclination are also unknown to us; being all faces, it is also possible that it was originally suspended.
This type of composition was the exclusivity of the church which alone could assume such expenses.
In addition to very large quantities of bronze and gold, this type of ensemble required the intervention of designers, architects, sculptors and founders, chasers, gilders, etc.
As with all large metal sculptures, a precise study of the weight of each piece and the various fixing constraints of both the sculpture itself and its support, made numerous tests mandatory, which alone could guarantee the durability of the ensemble.
Very few of these large bronze sculptures have escaped the castings and reached us; our example has the merit of having also preserved its sublime original gilding.
As with any sculpture, the size, the amplitude of the movements and the radiance of the gilding are difficult to see in a photo but they are breathtaking once in front of the work.
