Venetian school, late 17th century.

Venetian school, late 17th century.
"Archangels".
Pair of carvings in polychrome and gilded wood.
It retains the original polychrome.
Measurements: 182 cm. height.

Magnificent life-size sculptures belonging to the Venetian school of late Baroque. The fluttering of the tunics and the graceful movement of the bodies is combined with samples of spiritual surrender in the hands resting on the hearts and in the faces crossed by a celestial rapture. This way of capturing both dynamism and spirituality in the figures is characteristic of the full baroque, which in Venetian workshops reaches high levels of sensuality. In the turning of the knees and the fine feet perched on cloud-shaped bases, the supreme delicacy of the carving can be appreciated. The naturalistic draperies echo, with their expressive folds, the inclination of the bodies and the emotional agitation. The characters are devoid of wings or haloes, insignia or other attributes that identify them as sacred figures. In this way, only their movements and the allusion to the sky with the cottony base manage to transmit the idea of celestial ascent. The treatment of the fabrics is particularly remarkable: the vestments are sculpted with a fluidity that suggests movement, which is typical of Baroque aesthetics, which valued theatricality and drama. The gilding of the robes, combined with the light color of the skin, reflects an intention to highlight the contrast between the earthly and the divine. The figures also convey subtle emotions, such as devotion or recollection, by the inclination of their heads and the posture of their hands, suggesting that they may be in a moment of ecstatic contemplation. Overall, these sculptures are an excellent example of the artistic mastery of the Venetian school of the period, which knew how to combine Baroque drama with the delicacy and refinement of the native workshops. They belong to a period of transition towards the Rococo.