After Sir Joshua Reynolds, Angels Heads, 1890, Etching

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Description

Five winged child heads float among soft clouds, turned toward one another as if in conversation. One at top looks … Read more Five winged child heads float among soft clouds, turned toward one another as if in conversation. One at top looks down with lowered eyes, a second gazes upward with parted lips, a third is seen in profile behind it, a fourth at left turns in profile to the right, and the fifth, at the bottom, looks straight out at the viewer. Wings spread at either side, and a shaft of light falls diagonally from the upper left across the clouds. The faces are those of young children, round-cheeked, with tousled, curling hair, and each expression is distinct, from wonder to calm attention. The composition follows the well-known painting of angels' heads by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723 to 1792), first President of the Royal Academy, in which he painted the same child several times over from different angles in the guise of cherubs. The painting was widely reproduced in the nineteenth century. The plate is an etching, built up entirely from fine, free lines: long diagonal strokes in the sky, tight curling lines for the hair and dense crosshatching in the clouds, with the faces left almost bare and modeled with the lightest touches. The sheet carries no lettering, and the etcher is not named. A gentle, luminous image that suits a bedroom or nursery, or a quiet corner of a sitting room, and looks lovely in a pale gilt frame with an off-white mat. Condition: Light wear to the top right and bottom left corners. Age toning, darker at the edges; handling soiling along the edges and scattered foxing in the margins. Printed image clean. This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed. See less