Angel (Left Hand)

This angel comes from a pala (an altarpiece with a single, unified surface) which was sawn into pieces in the eighteenth century but reassembled by the National Gallery in the 1930s. It was made for a confraternity of priests in Pistoia, and shows the Trinity with saints and angels. The main panel was begun by Francesco Pesellino and finished by Fra Filippo Lippi after Pesellino’s death in 1457.Two angels hover on either side of the Trinity – this one is on the left – their draperies and ribbons flying around them: they're clearly beating their wings hard to stay aloft. These figures seem to have been completed by Pesellino, rather than Lippi. He was moving away from the graceful style he inherited from Fra Angelico towards a more dynamic way of depicting figures. He also seems to have developed a greater interest in how bodies work in space. Both angels hang horizontally in the air, looking down at the Cross, their heads and bodies foreshortened. One – on the right – is shown angled towards us, while this one is angled away.Given its history, this fragment is in surprisingly good condition. The angel’s wings have darkened and his green robe has discoloured, so that it contrasts less with the yellow lining. The underdrawing (the preliminary outlining of a composition) of the whole panel is very detailed, and some of it is visible through the paint layer; if you look closely you can see the drawing of the angel’s face and hair. Technical analysis allows us to see changes between the underdrawing and the final painted stage: this angel’s drapery originally fluttered above his feet, and his right foot was in a different position.