03 — ARTWORK
Candle-bearing Angel
BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO · 1529 →
- MEDIUM
- Cast copper, height 101 cm
- TYPE
- Religious
PALETTE
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- FILE
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COMMENTARY
UNDERLINED TERMS ARE DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY.
This statue represents a candle-bearing angel stepping forward, knees slightly bent, portraying a sense of movement and energy, with wavy hair adorned with a beaded headband the centre of which is decorated with a small TudorAn obscure Welsh family, first recorded in 1232, that seized the English throne in 1485 by defeating the Yorkist king Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth. Lancastrian Henry VII was its first crowned representative, marrying Richard's niece Elizabeth of York and thus symbolically ending the dynastic wars of the Roses. The Tudor dynasty lasted until 1603 (death of Elizabeth I). Tudor is also the name of a transitional Late Gothic building style during the reigns of the two Henrys. It incorporates Renaissance features. rose, and clothed in classicalRelating to the culture of ancient Greece and Rome (classical Antiquity). The classical world played a profoundly important role in the Renaissance, with Italian scholars, writers, and artists seeing their own period as the rebirth (the "renaissance") of classical values after the Middle Ages. The classical world was considered the golden age for the arts, literature, philosophy, and politics. Concepts of the classical, however, changed greatly from one period to the next. Roman literature provided the starting point in the 14th century, scholars patiently finding, editing and translating a wide range of texts. In the 15th century Greek literature, philosophy and art - together with the close study of the remains of Roman buildings and sculptures-expanded the concept of the classical and ensured it remained a vital source of ideas and inspiration. drapery gathered up at the back and falling to the basemolded foot of a pillar or column providing the transition from the plinth to the shaft..
This candle-bearing angel is one of four originally designed for the tomb of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the principal prelate of Tudor England. It is a rare example of a large cast bronzeAn alloy of copper (usually about 90 per cent) and tin, often also containing small amounts of other metals such as lead or zinc. Since antiquity it has been the metal most commonly used in cast sculpture because of its strength, durability, and the fact that it is easily workable - both hot and cold - by a variety of processes. It is easier to cast than copper because it has a lower melting-point, and its great tensile strength makes possible the protrusion of unsupported parts - an advantage over marble sculpture. The colour of bronze is affected by the proportion of tin or other metals present, varying from silverish to a rich, coppery red, and its surface beauty can be enhanced when it acquires a patina. figure from the early sixteenth century by an Italian sculptor working in England. In 1524 Cardinal Wolsey commissioned Florentine sculptor Benedetto da Rovezzano to design a magnificent tomb in the Renaissance style which would have been one of the major funerary commissions of the Tudor period. The scale of the tomb and its rich materials of black touchstone, white marbleloosely applied to any hard limestone that can be sawn into thin slabs and will take a good polish so that it is suitable for decorative work; more strictly, it refers to metamorphosed limestones whose structure has been recrystallized by heat or pressure. Marbles are widely disseminated and occur in a great variety of colours and patterns, but certain types have been particularly prized by sculptors. The most famous of Greek white marbles in the ancient world was the close-grained Pentelic, which was quarried at Mount Pentelicon in Attica. The Elgin Marbles are carved in Pentelic. Widely used also were the somewhat coarser-grained translucent white marbles from the Aegean islands of Paros and Naxos. Parian marble was used for the celebrated Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. The pure white Carrara marble, quarried at Massa, Carrara, and Pietra Santa in Tuscany from the 3rd century BC, is the most famous of all sculptors' stones. It was used for the Apollo Belvedere, and was much favoured in the Renaissance, particularly by Michelangelo, who often visited the quarries to select material for his work. Neoclassical sculptors also favoured Carrara marble because of its ability to take a smooth, sleek surface, but it can look rather 'dead' compared with some of the finest Greek marbles. and gilded bronze would have reflected Cardinal Wolsey's wealth and statesmanship at the height of his powers. After his downfall, the tomb parts were seized by Henry VIII to be used for his own monument.
Two of the four angels are in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
CITE THIS RECORD — BIBTEX
@online{wga-rd8cfad7ef68dcf,
author = {Krén, Emil and Marx, Daniel},
title = {Candle-bearing Angel by BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO},
organization = {{Web Gallery of Art}},
date = {2026-09-09},
url = {https://beta.wga.hu/artists/benedetto-da-rovezzano-r0aab4d465d7718/candle-bearing-angel-rd8cfad7ef68dcf},
urldate = {2026-09-09},
langid = {english}
}ACCESSED 2026-09-09. REPLACE THE AUTHOR FIELD WITH THE COMMENTARY AUTHOR WHERE ONE IS NAMED.
