An Angel in Green with a Vielle
- Artist: Leonardo da Vinci
- Date: about 1490-9
- Medium: oil on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
This is "An Angel in Green with a Vielle" painted by Leonardo da Vinci. It's part of an altarpiece commissioned for the San Francesco Grande church in Milan, and it would have originally surrounded a sculpture of the Virgin Mary above another famous painting by Da Vinci, "The Virgin of the Rocks".
The angel is playing a vielle, a type of fiddle, and its partner would have been on the other side. The artist here imitates Leonardo's dramatic use of light and shadow, creating soft, delicate features. The angel's face, hair, and pose are very similar to Da Vinci's painting, almost as if based on it.
Eyes half closed, head bent to one side, he contemplates its sound, with robes ruffling up around him like he's dancing. This angel is one of a pair, the other playing a lute - both panels were part of that elaborate sculpted wooden altarpiece. It's likely they were designed as musical accompaniments to frame the sculpture above Leonardo's painting.
The original contract for the altarpiece mentions four artists working together in Milan at this time, including Ambrogio and Evangelista de Predis, who may have enlisted their friend Francesco Napoletano to paint these angels after Da Vinci's death. Whoever it was, they clearly admired Leonardo's style.
See it in person
An Angel in Green with a Vielle 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.
