An Adoring Angel
Artist: Moretto Da Brescia (Italian, 1498 - 1554)
Original Dimensions: 60 5/8" x 21 1/4"
Location: National Gallery of Art, London
About Artwork: (About 1540) "This is one of four paintings of saints and angels made to decorate a pair of shutters. It was common at the time for altarpieces to have shutters to embellish and protect them. The central image these shutters would once have flanked is now missing. The Latin inscription on the plinth beneath the angel’s feet says ‘COELORUM’ meaning ‘of the Heavens’. When read with the inscription beneath the other angel’s feet, the whole phrase is: AVE REGINA COELORUM (‘Hail Queen of the Heavens’). This message would have been read when the shutters were open and it suggests that the missing central image was one of the Virgin Mary crowned in the heavens." - (National Gallery of Art, London)

Panel content
Panel content