St. Michael Archangel
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Unknown artist (follower of Stefano da Putignano)
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Abstract
While some have attributed this sculpture (in San Nicola, Mola di Bari) to Stefano da Putignano himself, Prof. Clara Gelao, the expert in Stefano's work, sees it as the work of an unknown local artist in the second half of the Sixteenth Century. St. Michael the Archangel is a subject Stefano da Putignano returned to a number of times in his career. This sculpture is reminiscent of the composition of Stefano's statue of St. Michael in the Sanctuary of Monte Laureto. In both statues, St. Michael has his right arm raised behind his head, ready to swing his sword. This statue diverges from Stefano's renditions of St. Michael in its depiction of the demon. Stefano's statues of St. Michael in Monte Laureto and the Gravina Cathedral show him slaying a dragon, while here the demon appears with a human face and a devil-like horn. The sculpture has lost almost all of its original paint, although brown is still visible in the hair and eyes. The tunic also shows a faded red in some areas. The sculpture is a high relief, and if we assume angels are human-sized, less than life-sized (approximately half life-sized). Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Description
Chiesa Matrice San Nicola, Mola di Bari
Citation
Clara Gelao, Puglia Rinascimentale (Milan: Jaca Book, 2005), p. 142; ""I Beni Culturali: Chiesa Matrice"" Comune di Mola di Bari. Accessed July 3 2020. https://www.comune.moladibari.ba.it/i-beni-culturali/-/asset_publisher/y2OtjEdOtjZA/content/chiesa-matrice?inheritRedirect=false.; ""Parrocchia di San Nicola di Mola di Bari"" in Sistema Informativo Unificato per le Soprintenzenze Archivistiche. Accessed July 3 2020. https://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=prodente&Chiave=24601 https://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=prodente&Chiave=24601