Gethsemane #09343

The Story

In this photograph, a large guardian angel statue stands before a large stone cross. Her wide wings are spread and this angel’s color is that of weathered and tarnished bronze. She is beautifully weathered and I have no idea what causes the dark runs down her lower robe, perhaps acid rain over time. Amazingly, those bronze wings are eleven feet across! This is a very large cemetery sculpture as they go.

The guardian angel statue itself is very well done with great style by an obviously highly skilled and artistic hand. The accurate detail of her hands with life-like fingers is impressive, as well as the many folds of cloth in her long flowing cloak draping easily over the stone steps. The angel’s long curling hair lies over a downward-looking finely featured face. The wide strong wings are highly stylized with large feathers and they convey power.

Visually, her pose is in great balance with the stone cross behind. It nearly appears as if she is about to continue turning and actually move down the steps, a strong sense of movement not easily achieved by a sculptor in a fixed piece of artwork. Well done, very much so.

She stands tall overlooking a peaceful and scenic cemetery with that even larger stone cross behind her. The entire piece is quite tall and imposing, and in my opinion, a beautiful and great example of high-end sculpting skill and ability. Time and weathering have only enhanced her. Because the guardian angel statue herself is undated and she stands over a large family plot, I estimate her to be around or over 100 years old.

Picture and story © Andrew Dierks