Angel (Left Hand)

Angel (Left Hand), painted around 1457 and now at the National Gallery in London, is one of two side panels from Francesco Pesellino's Trinity altarpiece—flanking angels that frame the central theological subject. Pesellino died in 1457 leaving the altarpiece unfinished; it was completed by Filippo Lippi's workshop. The National Gallery holds multiple panels from this work, which is considered one of the most important mid-fifteenth century Florentine altarpieces. Pesellino was a minor but refined master whose work shows the influence of both Filippo Lippi and Fra Angelico in its combination of delicate figure drawing and lyrical colour.

The flanking angel panels required Pesellino to produce figures that would read as harmonious counterparts—posed symmetrically to frame the central Trinity panel. His angel is characterised by fine, delicate drawing and a refined tempera technique, with gold leaf used in the halo and decorative elements consistent with the altarpiece's overall formal requirements.