This model depicting Two cherubs and a Lamb comes from the collection of the tenor Evangelista Gorga (1865-1957), and was acquired by Palazzo Venezia in 1948. In 1991 Barberini correctly linked the work to the relief of the same subject carved by Domenico Guidi for the left door of the choir of the main altar of Sant’Agnese in Agone. The relief, which is almost square in shape and with a gilded surface, has a crack running down the entire left hand side, while a small hole in the centre at the top suggests that the terracotta was probably modified to be displayed on a wall. The background has been worked over with a tooth-edged tool, giving it a sense of vibrancy, and the small bodies of the two angels stand out, supporting the lamb, whose head is now missing. The drapery that weaves its way between the figures, as if windswept, lends the composition a sense of drama and movement.

Cristiano Giometti