St. Michael the Archangel
- Object belonging
- One's own
- Category
- Wood sculpture
- City
- Rome
- Location
- Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia
- Specific location
- Store
- Inventory
- PV 07293
- Material and technique
- Sculpted tilia wood, paint and gilding
- Author
- Bavarian School
- Dating
- c.1520-1530
- Dimensions
- 127 x 38 x 23 cm.
- Origin
- Tower-Wurts Collection (1933)
- Image copyright
- SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma
Short description
This work, which came from the Wurts collection (100), is hollowed out on the back, and depicts a saint covered with a large, golden cloak, underneath which he is wearing armour with fluting; the armour has protruding parallel lines, which echo contemporary costumes made of pleated fabric, which came into fashion around 1520-30. The fauld, only part of which is visible, comprises five overlapped lamés, and is tied with a belt. He stands on a small dragon, whose jaws are open. His left hand rests on the scabbard, and the right is positioned to hold a weapon (now missing). He has long, curly hair down to his shoulders and his head leans slightly to the right. It is not easy to establish whether it is St. George or, more likely, St. Michael. As Santangelo (1954) noted, it is a southern German work from the first decades of the 16th century. Technical-scientific tests conducted in 2009 by IVALSA-CNR in Florence identified the wood used as tilia (Tilia sp.).
Bibliography
A. Santangelo (ed.), Museo di Palazzo Venezia. Catalogo delle sculture, Rome 1954, p. 61.