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Angel swinging a censer, and study of a censer

Maker

(artist)
1728-1779

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1770

Medium

black and white chalk on blue laid paper, laid down on a historic support

Dimensions

Height: 26 cm
Width: 31.1 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.155

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

This graceful angel is a study for a painting of the Adoration of the Shepherds, commissioned by Charles III of Spain and now in the Prado. Mengs, a German artist and theoretician, worked primarily in the courts of Italy and Spain. His devotion to classical antiquity and Renaissance art is apparent in the idealised treatment of the body and the use of blue paper, allowing the artist to explore the play of light and shadow on the angel’s drapery and lower body.

Provenance

Sir William Stirling Maxwell, London (1818-1878); by descent to his son, Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Glasgow (1866-1956); probably his sale, E. Parsons & Sons (London), cat. 38, 1921, though does not match the only Mengs lot (lot 388, portrait of Charles III of Spain); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952) (19 shillings); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

German Old Masters, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1969-70 (Dec.-Mar.)

Drawings Gallery Display - Unseen, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 15/01/2015-29/03/2015

Anton Raphael Mengs and his British Patrons, Kenwood House, London, 15/06/1993-12/09/1993 ...More

Spanish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1978 (March - May)

Neo-Classical Drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, November 1972-December 1972

Goya and his Times, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1963-64

German Art, 1400-1800, from collections in Great Britain, Manchester City Art Gallery & Manchester & England, 24/10/1961-10/12/1961 ...Less

Literature

Spanish drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1978 (March - May)
cat. no. 52

Goya and his Times, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1963-1964
cat. no. 323
no. 323

German Art, 1400-1800, from collections in Great Britain, Manchester City Art Gallery, 1961
cat. no. 227

Inscriptions

Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower left edge, brown ink: “No. 58: cart.a pma del Cavallero Mengs.”; lower right edge, brown ink: “160.xs” [note in file says this is 'rs', for 'reales'].

Collector's mark: none.

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