Italian Baroque Holy Spirit Altarpiece Frieze

Stock No

A2PPQ

Member since
2021

£4,800.00

€5,784 Euro
$6,031 US Dollar

Purchase securely

Questions about this item?

Contact Seller

Like this item?

Item Description

An incredible Italian Baroque period altarpiece frieze depicting a brilliant descending dove within a golden areole of swirling clouds and winds in deeply carved relief. c.1650

The bird represents ‘Spiritus Sancti’, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost in the Christian Church.

Created from sectional wooden panels, built up to enable deeply carved relief. The work is then gessoed and gilded in red bole and gold, the feathers are picked out in burnished engraved lines.
The piece would have originally graced the pinnacle of an altarpiece in a small or private chapel for private worship, but equally may have been part of a much larger ornate composition.

The dramatic form of the dove in swirling baroque areole depicts the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Pentecost marks the sudden and powerful arrival of the Holy Spirit in and around the disciples of Christ and their friends gathered together in Jerusalem.

Seller Storefront

Seller Details

View Seller Website