Pair of Candelabra in the form of kneeling angels

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Italian School
Florence, Italy, 18th or 19th century (left), 16th or 17th century (right)
Polychromed wood
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1906.
AZ026.1-2
Notes: 

The style of these carved and painted wood figures, with detachable wings inserted into their backs, shows the influence of the early Renaissance Florentine sculptors Benedetto da Maiano (1442-1497) and Andrea della Robbia (1435-1525). Such angels originally would have decorated an altar or the mantel of a tomb. While these two were acquired by Morgan as a pair, they are not by the same carver and likely were executed at different times, perhaps in homage to early Renaissance examples.

Inscription: 
Inscribed on base, "CANDELABRUM AUREM IN MANU SUA".
Provenance: 
E. Lowengard, London; from whom purchased by J. Pierpont Morgan in 1906 (as Benedetto da Maiano).
Summary: 

Kneeling angels holding a candlestick, one in the proper right hand (AZ026.1A (right wing), AZ026.1B (left wing), AZ026.1C (angel)), the other in the proper left hand (AZ026.2A (right wing), AZ026.2B (left wing), AZ026.2C (angel)). The wings are detachable and are attached to the angels through iron hinges. The angels kneel on plygonal bases.

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