An Angel Carrying a Torch c. 1500 - 1504

Filippino Lippi created this drawing of "An Angel Carrying a Torch" using pen and brown ink with brown wash and white gouache on blue prepared paper. Florence in the late 15th century was steeped in religious fervor, particularly during the rule of Savonarola. Lippi, working under Botticelli, would have witnessed the heightened spiritual tension of the time. Angels, often depicted as androgynous figures, were symbolic of divine intervention and spiritual guidance. This angel, drawn with quick, fluid lines, seems caught in a moment of urgent motion, bearing a torch that signifies enlightenment and truth. Lippi's angel departs from traditional, static representations. The sketch-like quality lends it an immediacy and a raw emotional intensity, drawing us into the urgency of its mission. Consider how this angel, caught between the earthly and the divine, embodies the personal and collective anxieties of its time.