Rare walnut altar angel carved in the round with... Lot 23

Rare walnut altar angel carved in the round with slight traces of polychromy. With an elongated barrel, the angel stands with a slight bow, wearing Christ's tunic on his left forearm; he is dressed in a robe with a wide neckline and blousante waist, falling in flowing folds to the ground; face with almond-shaped eyes and smiling mouth, framed by short, curly hair. Île-de-France, last third of the 13th century H. 81.5 cm (a few missing parts, including the right arm and the wings, small fillings) This angel would have belonged to a group of angels arranged around an altar, each carrying an instrument of the Passion. This arrangement of an angelic procession around altars seems to have appeared in the second half of the 13th century. It is illustrated on the right-hand side of a triptych in the Musée Diocésain d'Arras, and is often linked by art historians with the famous Anges de Saudemont in the Arras museum. A number of these altar angels are known in French museums, all in oak and having lost their attributes. This one is unusual in that it was made in walnut and retains its Passion instrument, that of Christ's sleeveless tunic. Books consulted : - Exposition Paris 1998, L'Art au temps des rois maudits Philippe le Bel et ses fils 1285-1328, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, cat.19-26, p 62-71. - F. Baron, "Lorsque les anges passaient : décors d'autel aux XIIIe et XIVe siècles" in L'Estampille L'Objet d'art, 323, 1998, p 62-69. - P.-Y. Le Pogam, La sculpture gothique 1140-1430, Hazan, 2020, p. 258-259, 261.