Angels

(click to embiggen)


Apotheosis of Saint Bernardino attributed to Andrea Pozzo (1642,-1709 Venice)

Nothing inspires spirituality like the disembodied heads of small children floating in the clouds.

The angel in blue on the right is obviously sitting on an invisible stool.

grapefruits

click to enlarge

Jean Fouquet's Virgin and Child, right half of Melun Diptych, a painting from circa 1450

I don't think Fouquet quite had a complete grasp of foreshortening as the Child appears to be floating.

I would call this an example of a Gilligan's Island boob job : a boob job that appears to have been done by the Professor from Gilligan's Island by inserting a coconut under the skin.

It seems the model was King Louis VII's mistress Agnès Sorel. I would have guessed that Jean Fouquet couldn't find a single female model in all of France so he substituted a pair of grapefruits. He included a large enough space between the breasts to add a third if he had so wished.

Angels painted bright devil red and dark blue? Um, okay then.

Tiepolo Angels

detail of Education of the Virgin (full picture)
the title sounds like an adult movie. Creepy disembodied angel heads. Curly hair that looks like the product of overnight curlers.


detail of Triumph of Zephyr and Flora (full picture)
Wha! Insect wings! Technically not angels but angel-like guys near Flora the Roman goddess of flowers & spring and Zephyr god of the spring winds.


detail of Martyrdom of St John Bishop of Bergamo (full picture)
must be a tailored shirt to fit the wings growing out of his armpits. Consider for a second the practical difficulties of putting a shirt on if you have giant wings on your back. (apparently, Saint John of Bergamo died of natural causes but due to a translation error was thought to have been assassinated)


Nobility and Virtue Striking Down Ignorance (larger picture)
one pervy angel with his hand up another angel's dress (surely not Virtue's dress!) or as I like to call it "Touched by an Angel" (the entire painting)


detail of Vision of Saint Anne (full picture)
creepy disembodied head angels alongside more normal angels. I would think that would mean that there is a specific distinction of some kind between them but I don't know what.
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