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| Angel and Farmer (Detail) Ludwig (Ludovico) Seitz 1899 Galleria dei Candelabri Musei Vaticani Rome |
“GRATIA DEI ET CONTENTIONE VOLUNTATIS
EXCELLENTIAM VIRTUTIS ADIPISCIMUR”
Ludwig (Ludovico) Seitz’s wondrous Vatican Angel is not a product of the Renaissance, yet it channels so much of the Renaissance as well as being surrounded by it in the Galleria Dei Candelabri in the Vatican.
Some paintings are so iconic that they remain emblazoned in our minds, reappearing often as lovely dreams. The wondrous painting of the Angel and Farmer by Ludovico Seitz (Ludwig Seitz, 1844 - 1908) in the Vatican's Galleria dei Candelabri (Gallery of the Candelabras), is one of these.
It depicts, in blazing, living color, the metaphor of Divine Grace on Human Works, as exemplified by the Angel showing the Sun to an old man toiling away at his labors.
The Angel’s accoutrements (laurel wreath, staff, flowing robe) and her immediate surround (the verdant garden) are depicted in dazzling colors, indeed all the colors of the visible spectrum (ROYGBIV), whereas the laborer and the rest of the painting are muted in sepia or a drab gray.
The Angel is pointing out that without sunlight, the laborer`s works are in vain. Just as sunlight brings about the material works of man, Grace allows the works of the spirit to shine.
Seitz’s genius Iies not only in painting those dazzling colors, but also for the “incredible lightness of being”’he invests in the Angel, floating, buoyant, androgynous, ethereal and yet tangible, just magnificent.
Behind the Angel is the Latin motto:
“GRATIA DEI ET CONTENTIONE VOLUNTATIS EXCELLENTIAM VIRTUTIS ADIPISCIMUR”
“With the grace of God and the effort of Will we obtain the excellence of Virtue”
The Farmer and The Angel (Detail)
Tempera on panel
Ludwig (Ludovico) Seitz
c. 1899
Galleria Dei Candelabri
Vatican Museums
Roma
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