An Angel Adoring
- Artist: Filippino Lippi
- Date: probably about 1495
- Medium: egg tempera on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the "An Angel Adoring" by Filippino Lippi, a Florentine painter. The original picture may have been a circular painting known as a tondo, which was a common format in Florence during this period. Unfortunately, our fragment is all we're left with today.
It appears to be from one of the two angels that would have flanked the Virgin Mary and infant Christ in the complete picture. The angel's hands are clasped in adoration of Christ, whose face can still be faintly seen around the right edge of the painting. At the bottom of our fragment, we catch a glimpse of another head, possibly belonging to the young Saint John the Baptist.
What's interesting is that this painting was likely made as an aid for prayer in a Florentine household during this time period. The original picture may have been damaged and then cut up by its owner to make two separate pieces – this one and another fragment that survives in Strasbourg.
See it in person
An Angel Adoring hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
