Studies for an Angel in Glory

Antonio d'Enrico Tanzio (Tanzio da Varallo)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Made in preparation for a flying angel on the frescoed ceiling in the church of Sant’Antonio Abate, Milan, this drawing explores the dynamic pose of a male figure seen from below. At the sides of the main study, the artist has repeated elements of the body to increase his understanding of the model’s anatomy and his complex, floating pose. A brilliantly original Baroque master from Northern Italy, Tanzio da Varallo was also a skilled draftsman, as can be appreciated by the luminous quality of this drawing, executed over an ocher-prepared ground.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art