A Flying Angel (recto); Studies of Hands Playing Instruments (verso)
1725
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1725
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a loose sketch of an angel mid-flight on one side and quick drawings of hands playing instruments on the other. Piazzetta made this study for a huge ceiling painting in Venice. The angel was meant to carry a saint upward, but the artist broke from tradition—most Venetian angels float on fluffy clouds, while his looks like it’s caught in a storm. The rough, scribbly lines show him working out the pose before painting. Look up *chiaroscuro* to see how light and shadow make figures feel alive.
![Apollo and Studies of the Artist's Own Hand [recto]](https://pub-3a17a9933ad74fb28aa30fa758592f23.r2.dev/artworks/ee93288e84456aea/thumb.webp)
