Angel Holding a Shield

ca. 1470
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 504
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
Antonio Rizzo was the main competitor to Pietro Lombardo and his sons in late fifteenth-century Venice. This standing angel holding a shield was carved in low relief with an extraordinary refinement that depends on the nuanced interplay between line and three-dimensional form. This work may have been one of a pair of angel reliefs that perhaps flanked a doorway to a house in Venice.

[Peter J. Bell, 2015]

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Angel Holding a Shield
  • Artist: Antonio Rizzo (Italian, Verona before 1440–1499 or later)
  • Date: ca. 1470
  • Culture: Italian, Venice
  • Medium: Marble
  • Dimensions: Overall: 22 7/16 × 17 5/16 × 13 3/4 in. (57 × 44 × 35 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Lent by The Hearn Family Trust, 2015
  • Object Number: L.2015.55
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts