1624
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Seven Archangels (recto); Studies of an Archangel and a Wind God (verso) is a 1624 by Massimo Stanzione, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see seven angels with wings, standing in a row. Their faces are calm, almost the same. One holds a sword, another a lily. Stanzione worked in Naples, where most artists painted dark, dramatic scenes. But he liked softer lines and brighter colors. This drawing was a study for a bigger painting—you can tell he was figuring out poses. Look up chiaroscuro to see how light and shadow changed art in Naples.
Massimo Stanzione worked in the Spanish-held Kingdom of Naples, where, during the 1600s, painting was characterized by dramatic expression, emphatic naturalism, and intense chiaroscuro derived from the profound influence of Caravaggio (1571–1610). Stanzione, however, was known in the city as one of the main purveyors of a more classical style, a kind of antithesis to the passion and drama of such Neapolitan painters as Jusepe de Ribera. This drawing relates directly to a painting Stanzione made depicting the seven archangels at the Monasterio de la Descalzas Reales in Madrid. The iconography…
The Archangel Michael is shown at the center of the composition, surrounded by six more archangels, from left to right, Gabriel, Uriel, Jehudiel, Barachiel, Selathiel, and Raphael.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Massimo Stanzione (also called Stanzioni; Frattamaggiore 1585 – Naples 1656) was an Italian Baroque painter, mainly active in Naples, where he and his rival Jusepe de Ribera dominated the painting scene for several decades.
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