Angel

Angel (or archangel) – the pearl of Karolina Lanckorońska’s gift for the Wawel Royal Castle, he is depicted in a blue tunic, with a loros embroidered with gold and studded with precious stones, i.e. an element of the costume of Byzantine emperors. A pink cloak covers his shoulders, and he holds a staff in his left hand.
The painting attributed to Lippo Memmi was associated with Simone Martini, one of the most famous painters of the trecento, probably educated in the studio of Duccio di Buoninsegna. Simone was active mainly in Siena and Assisi, and he was also active at the papal court in Avignon. In 1918, Max Dvořák published the work, recognising it as a fragment of one of the Orvieto polyptychs by Simone Martini. Subsequent researchers assumed that it was part of a polyptych made around 1321 for the church of San Francesco in Orvieto or from the church of Sant’Agostino in San Gimignano. Its central part was to be the Madonna and Child, and the culmination was a depiction of Christ Blessing (currently in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Orvieto). In the reconstructions of the original appearance of this altar, the Angel is placed on the left side at the top, above the image of St. Catherine of Alexandria (now in the National Gallery in Ottawa).
According to Maria Skubiszewska, however, it is a separate work, differing in style from the paintings in both polyptychs, and therefore cannot be associated with either of them. The picture was painted at a time when the painter was working in Assisi on the frescoes in the chapel of St. Martin, i.e. around 1315, as indicated by the majestic posture and the cloak slipped off the shoulders – an element of clothing devoid of analogy in other works of the artist – and the Gothic line of the figure forming the letter ‘S’. This is the period from which no fragment of Simone Martini’s polyptych has survived and this may explain the separateness of the work.
The artistic level of the painting and its difference from other works by Simone Martini determine the originality and uniqueness of the Wawel Angel.

Elaborated on the basis of: K. Kuczman, M. Skubiszewska, Obrazy z kolekcji Lanckorońskich z wieków XIV-XVI w zbiorach Zamku Królewskiego na Wawelu [Eng. Paintings from the Lanckoroński collection from the 14th-16th centuries in the collection of the Wawel Royal Castle], Kraków 2008.