Altar frontal with apocalypse scene (detail)
AUTHOR
Antonio Arrighi (1687-1776) (silversmith) Agostino Corsini (1688-1772), for the apocalipse scene (sculptor) / Bernardino Ludovisi (1694-1749), for the pair of angels (escultor)
PLACE/DATE
Italy, Rome, 1749-1750
MATERIALS
Chased silver, gilt bronze and lapis-lazuli
DIMENSIONS
230 x 112 cm, 312.650 g
INV
MPR.10
Intended to be used on feast days, particularly on the chapel's patron saint's day, the frontal displays two angels in figures flanking a central panel composed of a relief in chiselled silver, with a scene from the Apocalypse - The Lamb Adored by the Elders (Rev. 5:6,8), on a lapis lazuli background.
This is one of the most exuberant works of the set of implements for the chapel of St. John the Baptist in the Church of São Roque commissioned by King John V (1689-1750) in Rome in 1744. It was commissioned by one of the goldsmiths who worked most for Portugal during the reign of King John V, as the payment books of the Portuguese embassy in Rome reveal.
