Angel Playing the Lute

Angel Playing the Lute is a small surviving fragment of a much larger altarpiece by Rosso Fiorentino, now in the Uffizi in Florence. Only part of the original composition remains, so the panel shows a single figure rather than the full scene. A winged child lies across a lute almost as large as himself, playing it with absorbed concentration. Touches of red on the wings, cheeks and tip of the nose stand out against the cooler tones of skin and feathers, while the wood of the instrument adds warmer notes. The unruly curls and the carefully placed light on the left wing reveal the painter's interest in contrast and movement. Infrared examination uncovered architecture hidden beneath the dark background, and a possible signature and date of 1521 that had been covered by later paint. Older inventories attributed the work to other artists before Rosso's authorship was restored in 1825.

Painter

Rosso Fiorentino

Date

1518

Medium

tempera, oil paint, panel

Dimensions

39 × 47 cm

Museum

Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Genre

mythological painting

Depicts

Erotes, red hair, bird's wing, lute, angel, putto, musician

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