Angel

Guariento di Arpo was the leading painter in fourteenth-century Padua, whose career culminated in the prestigious commission to paint the great Paradise fresco in the Doge's Palace in Venice. This Angel panel, in the Civic Museums of Padua, is related to his celebrated series of angel panels that demonstrate the sophistication of Paduan painting under the patronage of the Carraresi lords. Guariento's angels blend Giottesque monumentality with a courtly elegance reflecting the International Gothic sensibility.

Tempera and gold on panel, with the angel figure rendered in rich, saturated colors against an elaborately tooled gold ground. Guariento's technique combines firm Giottesque modeling with refined decorative elements including patterned wings and delicately rendered drapery.