Detail of a Musical Angel in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 2011

Title: Musical Angel

Date: ca. 1450–1500

Culture: French

Medium: Wood

Dimensions: Overall: 16 1/8 x 15 13/16 x 3 3/8 in. (41 x 40.1 x 8.5 cm)

Classification: Woodwork-Furniture

Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917

Accession Number: 17.190.378

Description: This angel plucking a gittern (a predecessor of the guitar) was probably once part of an angelic orchestra. Such musical ensembles were frequently included in scenes devoted to the Virgin Mary, such as those depicting her assumption into heaven or coronation as celestial queen.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/Works_of_Art/collection_database/mediev...