Date
1320-1330
Object Type
Statue
Subject
Announcing Angel / Annunciated Virgin
Holding institution
Accademia di Carrara
About The Work
The sculptural group, consisting of the Archangel Gabriel and the Annunciate Virgin, was executed by Lapo di Giroldo da Como, a pupil of the sculptor Giroldo da Como, around 1310. The statues come from the Collegiata di Sant’Andrea in Carrara. Their original function is unknown, though they may have formed part of an altar dedicated to the Annunciation. Both sculptures show significant losses, including missing elements and surface abrasion. The archangel stands upright, blessing with his right hand, now mutilated, while with his left he gathers a fold of his garment. The back is only partially worked and features two cavities at shoulder level, likely the original attachment points for the wings. The headless Virgin is depicted standing, richly dressed, and holding a psaltery, an iconographic motif frequently found in fourteenth-century sculpted Annunciations of French origin. The sculptures are not recorded in documents prior to the nineteenth century, including the pastoral visitations of the bishop of Luni-Sarzana and the prior of the Basilica of San Frediano in Lucca. The first mention is by Emanuele Repetti (1820), who notes that the statues were placed separately within the church: the Virgin inside, near the high altar, and Gabriel outside the building, near the main portal of the façade. The group entered the collections of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara on 12 September 1861, following the donation of Pietro Andrei, archivist of the parish of Sant’Andrea in Carrara. A few years later, Carlo Lazzoni reported that the sculptures were in a state of semi-abandonment, dispersed between the square in front of the church and the archivist’s courtyard.
Title
Annunciazione
Creator
Lapo di Giroldo da Como
Subject
Announcing Angel / Annunciated Virgin
Object Type
Statue
Original Function
Collection, Pietro Andrei donation
Date
1320-1330
Inscriptions
On the statue of the virgin: Incision "LAPUS MG.RI GIROLDI FE"
Technique / Support
Marble
Dimensions
cm 163 x 75 - [Statue of the Virgin cm.:133x73x47.]
Holding institution
Accademia di Carrara
Bibliography
REPETTI, M., Sopra l'Alpe Apuana ed i marmi di Carrara, 1820, pp. xx; ANDREI, P., Cenni sul Duomo di Sant'Andrea Apostolo, 1866, pp. XX, LAZZONI, C., Carrara e le sue ville, 1880, pp. XX; BUSELLI, F., S. Andrea apostolo: duomo a Carrara, Genova, 1972, pp. XX; DE SIMONE, G., "Sculture del Medioevo e del Rinascimento: Lapo di Giroldo, Andrea Guardi, Francesco Mosca", in "L’Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara", a cura di M. CIAMPOLINI, Milano (In corso di pubblicazione); SORACE, D., "L’Annunciazione di Lapo di Giroldo all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara", in "Giroldo. Uno scultore lombardo nella Toscana del Duecento", a cura di A. Ducci e F. Fiumalbi, Pisa (in corso di pubblicazione).
Conservation status
Very poor
Unique identifier
0900390370