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Author Topic: Angel plaque  (Read 6414 times)

Offline Elaine

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Angel plaque
« on: August 16, 2007, 09:20:19 AM »
Here's another from my great-aunt's legacy - and this is a real mystery to me! 

I have absolutely no idea what it is, or where it comes from!  It is very, very delicate and unstable.  The paint and gold leaf is faded and flaking off, so I don't ever touch it - this is the first time it's been out of the cabinet for years.  I can't read what's written on the back (in pencil) so I don't know if it's an artist's sig or if my g-a wrote it.

Anyone any ideas about where it might have come from, or indeed anything at all about it?
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Offline Sue C

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #1 on: August 17, 2007, 01:56:16 PM »
Elaine, do you think this could be Russian? if i were you i would take it to your local museum to see what they say.
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Offline Elaine

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2007, 02:02:22 PM »
Could be Russian, Sue.  (Knowing my g-a's eclectic tastes it could be just about anything!)  I could try taking it to a Museum, although I do try not to touch it too much in case more of the paint and gold leaf flakes off  :-\   Perhaps if I put it carefully flat in the bottom of a box and carried it very carefully .... 

I might take a pic of it to someone first and see if they can ID it from that, and whether they think it's worth them seeing it. 
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Offline Martyn

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #3 on: August 17, 2007, 02:33:34 PM »
I was a bit reluctant to comment on this but superficially it also looks like an Italian renaissance fresco panel to me, Giotto, Fra Angelica..etc...?

edit...though Russian icon as Sue and Kev say is much more likely.
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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2007, 02:59:02 PM »
 ???

I thought in frescoes the paint ends up IN the plaster, not ON it.

I'm more for Russian - the angel is quite swarthy in complexion, but the style of face is quite modern (as in more Victorian chocolate box pretty, rather than the quite fierce stylised ancient faces).

just my tuppence worth, (which is only a pre-decimal value of tuppence :blush:)
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Offline Martyn

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2007, 03:03:37 PM »
That's exactly why I was reluctant to comment...It's not my subject....I did say superficially   ;)  I'll shut up now.  :-X
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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #6 on: August 17, 2007, 03:13:57 PM »
 :)

Hello Martyn - I wasn't trying to do you down in any way - I'm a real newbie about these sorts of things.
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Offline Elaine

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #7 on: August 17, 2007, 03:15:38 PM »
Interestingly, the plaque has been covered with gold leaf, which then had the picture applied over the top, which is maybe why the paint is flaking off!  It is also the reason that the paint is slightly 'muddy' looking in places - and explains the 'swarthyness' of the angel's complexion. 

And he isn't all that pretty, Sue!  His eyes are actually rimmed in red and the 'whites' are gold, which gives him a slightly demonic look in close-up!   

Personally, I do wonder whether he's perhaps a tad more renaissance-looking than Russian ???

Oh, and I forgot to give dimensions - AGAIN!  It's 6 inches high by 2 and 1/4 wide and about 1/4 inch thick.
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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #8 on: August 17, 2007, 03:25:00 PM »
 8)

ok. Have checked I'm wearing my current reading glasses and peered at him!

He does look a bit evil, but the face is still not the more Moglidani long type one tends to see in icons. (I'm quite fond of icons - when I go to museums and art galleries, I make a bee-line for medieval stuff. I like the monsters in them, and there's something incredibly special about the colours.)

On closer peering I notice the sleeve is the same sort of shape as the beautiful far eastern drawings/paintings in my childhood "Arabian Nights" book....


 >:D and I don't think there's enough writing on the back for it to be the ten commandments.
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Offline Martyn

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #9 on: August 17, 2007, 03:31:24 PM »
Quote from: chopin-liszt on August 17, 2007, 03:13:57 PM
:)

Hello Martyn - I wasn't trying to do you down in any way - I'm a real newbie about these sorts of things.

You were spot on...It usually takes me a dozen or so edits before I get the grammer right let alone hit a tone I'm happy with (I would make an awful author)...I did'nt mean to sound offended, sorry. ;D

now back to the subject at hand.........Gabriel ???
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Offline Elaine

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #10 on: August 17, 2007, 03:35:38 PM »
Gabriel, Raphael and Michael get all the publicity!  I think I'll call this chap Uriel.   
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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2007, 03:56:12 PM »
 ;D
and I was starting to think more along the lines of fallen angels...
(well, he IS a little bit demonic!)
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Offline Elaine

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #12 on: August 17, 2007, 04:05:13 PM »
GOT HIM!  Martyn, you were right! :clap:  He IS renaissance!  He's a copy of the Angel Playing a Trumpet, from the Linaiuoli Triptych by Fra Angelico  ;D 

Now, where and by whom was this plaque made? (and why?) ???
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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #13 on: August 17, 2007, 04:12:18 PM »
 :clap: :clap: :clap:

Well done Martyn!
It's always worth mentioning hunches, I reckon.

Isn't brainstorming about amassing as much info/speculation as possible, then sifting through it?

but where and how did you "got him" Leni????
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Offline Elaine

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #14 on: August 17, 2007, 04:16:08 PM »
Googled 'Renaissance Angel', Sue  :D
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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #15 on: August 17, 2007, 04:33:50 PM »
 >:D
and how many did you find, and have to sift through?
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Offline Elaine

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #16 on: August 17, 2007, 04:40:50 PM »
Quite a few! ;D  Searching 'Images' helps.  Then you can fine down the search to those of a similar style.  I do quite like some of Fra Angelico's works anyway, so perhaps something about this angel stuck in my memory.   
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Offline chopin-liszt

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Re: Angel plaque
« Reply #17 on: August 18, 2007, 09:38:18 AM »
 ;D

I was wondering if it could have been made to be a part of a nativity scene?

Certainly, when I've seen some from various different parts of the world, they can be really quite complex and have loads of ornate characters in them.
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