Angel 1750 - 1799

This angel was created in eighteenth-century Italy by Salvatore di Franco, primarily from terracotta, with details in paint and fabric. Notice how di Franco has combined sculpture and textiles, the hard and the soft. The body itself is rendered in clay, a material demanding patience and skillful manipulation. The painted details bring the figure to life. Then there's the ingenious use of fabric: swathes of delicate material draped and arranged to suggest movement and ethereal grace. Consider the social context: angels like this weren't just devotional objects, they were expressions of wealth and status. Patrons would commission elaborate nativity scenes as a way of demonstrating their power. Di Franco’s angel reflects a world where artistry and craftsmanship met the demands of aristocratic taste, blurring the lines between sacred art and decorative display. By combining media and engaging with theatricality, di Franco elevated this object beyond mere religious iconography.