Room 1
Welcoming you to Frick Madison is this monumental bronze sculpture of an angel, a compelling testament to the craftsmanship of the bronze casters of fifteenth-century France. This is one of the very few surviving metal sculptures from that time. During the French Revolution, works of this kind were routinely melted down so the bronze could be reused for weapons.
The sculpture is impeccably cast, with the body in a single piece and the two wings attached by pins at the back. The angel’s left wing is inscribed as follows, in French: “On the 27th day of March in the year 1475, Jean Barbet, called of Lyon, made this angel.” The day recorded in this signature was Easter Monday in 1475. Jean Barbet, identified as the caster, is listed in documents in Lyon, in the south of France, as a cannon maker to the king. Barbet is known to have created a number of weapons but no other sculpture of this kind. In the late fifteenth century, bronze foundries could produce works as varied as this angel and cannons, as well as a range of other metal objects. Technical studies have revealed that the cylindrical body of the angel was cast in a similar fashion to cannons. It was customary for works of art of this kind to be conceived by one artist and made by another. While Barbet proudly inscribed his name on the sculpture he casted, the artist responsible for the design remains anonymous.
The angel stands upright, covered in a flowing drapery—his knee slightly bent and his elongated finger pointing outward. In his left hand, he probably once held a cross or a staff, which is now lost. Why the angel was created and where it was originally located are unknown. It may have been made for the Sainte-Chapelle, the thirteenth-century chapel in the heart of Paris built to house the most treasured relics of the kings of France. The Barbet angel came to the Frick in 1943 from the collection of the financier J.P. Morgan. Before that, it decorated a staircase in the Château de Lude, in France.
The rather miraculous survival of the Barbet Angel dramatically underscores the importance of preserving remarkable works of art—one of the most important missions, if not the defining aim, of any museum.
Room 1
Welcoming you to Frick Madison is this monumental bronze sculpture of an angel, a compelling testament to the craftsmanship of the bronze casters of fifteenth-century France. This is one of the very few surviving metal sculptures from that time. During the French Revolution, works of this kind were routinely melted down so the bronze could be reused for weapons.
The sculpture is impeccably cast, with the body in a single piece and the two wings attached by pins at the back. The angel’s left wing is inscribed as follows, in French: “On the 27th day of March in the year 1475, Jean Barbet, called of Lyon, made this angel.” The day recorded in this signature was Easter Monday in 1475. Jean Barbet, identified as the caster, is listed in documents in Lyon, in the south of France, as a cannon maker to the king. Barbet is known to have created a number of weapons but no other sculpture of this kind. In the late fifteenth century, bronze foundries could produce works as varied as this angel and cannons, as well as a range of other metal objects. Technical studies have revealed that the cylindrical body of the angel was cast in a similar fashion to cannons. It was customary for works of art of this kind to be conceived by one artist and made by another. While Barbet proudly inscribed his name on the sculpture he casted, the artist responsible for the design remains anonymous.
The angel stands upright, covered in a flowing drapery—his knee slightly bent and his elongated finger pointing outward. In his left hand, he probably once held a cross or a staff, which is now lost. Why the angel was created and where it was originally located are unknown. It may have been made for the Sainte-Chapelle, the thirteenth-century chapel in the heart of Paris built to house the most treasured relics of the kings of France. The Barbet angel came to the Frick in 1943 from the collection of the financier J.P. Morgan. Before that, it decorated a staircase in the Château de Lude, in France.
The rather miraculous survival of the Barbet Angel dramatically underscores the importance of preserving remarkable works of art—one of the most important missions, if not the defining aim, of any museum.