Study for Two Flying Angels

Author: Chris Fischer

As first recognized by Knapp in 1903,^[1] this drawing is preparatory for the pair of angels at the upper left in Albertinelli’s Annunciation with God the Father in Florence (fig.), dated 1510.^[2] The connection and attribution was confirmed by Gabelentz,^[3] Borgo^[4] and the present author in 1990.^[5] The huge altarpiece (335 x 230 cm) was commissioned by the Compagnia of San Zanobi for the confraternity’s chapel in the presbytery of the cathedral of Florence. The contract has not been found, but payments to Albertinelli began in 1505 and continued until 1511, so the preparatory drawings were probably made around 1505.   

The drawing is executed on blue prepared paper, chosen here by Albertinelli for purely decorative purposes. He placed the two closely intertwined angels on the sheet like a relief-style ornament without any attempt to give them bulk and tactility, although the coloured paper could work as a middle tone on to which he could go lighter, with white chalk, and darker, with black chalk. This is very typical of Albertinelli’s approach and very different from the way his companion Fra Bartolommeo (1473-1517) depicted figures, as becomes clear if Albertinelli’s angels are compared to their ultimate offspring: the angels of Fra Bartolommeo’s contemporary painting The Vision of St Bernard (1504-1507) in Florence,^[6] which are more rounded and corporeal. Another typical trait of Albertinelli’s approach to form is the forceful accentuation of light and dark. The highlighted areas are abruptly separated from the shadowed ones almost without transition, so that the individual figure appears almost fragmented. This is even more conspicuous in the painting and adds to its crepuscular atmosphere of mystery. A similar drawing for the two companion angels on the right of the altarpiece is also included in the Gabburri album.^[7]