Two seated angels, arms around one another, the one on the left looking down at a song book, from The Angels' Concert
Original title: Two seated angels, arms around one another, the one on the left looking down at a song book, from The Angels' Concert
kurzbeschreibung
Two angels sit close together, their arms wrapped around each other. The one on the left bows his head toward a songbook, which he holds with both hands. Cherubino Alberti engraved this motif in 1583 as part of his series 'The Angel Concert.'
Description
Pressed together and turned toward one another, the winged figures have their arms entwined. The left angel leans forward, reading from an open book. Short curly hair, bare bodies, bare feet — nothing separates the figures from the dark, grainy ground that makes their bright outlines stand out sharply. Along the bottom edge runs a Latin inscription that includes the year 1583.
Context
Cherubino Alberti, born in 1553 and died in 1615, worked as an engraver and painter in Rome and Florence; his prints after other artists' designs were prized, but he also made his own. This engraving of 1583 belongs to a group of music-making angels, a subject that Counter-Reformation religious art often produced.
Impact
The print gives off a quiet, collected mood: the close embrace, the reader's lowered gaze. Because the ground remains almost black, the delicate faces and the bearing of the bodies emerge clearly and take on something devotional.
Technique
Lines were incised into a copper plate, the plate was inked, and the result was pulled on paper — an engraving. The neatly laid hatching and thin strokes reveal Alberti's skill in this medium. The sheet measures 18.5 × 11.5 centimeters and is kept at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)