It's Christmas Eve—and we continue our annual tradition (now in its 26th year) of putting our Italian Christmas Angels into our shop window (or what now serves as our on-line "shop window").
In 1995, the year I opened LEO Design on Bleecker Street, I purchased this pair of Italian terra-cotta angels. I found them in an Italian "handcraft showroom" in the "Gift Building" at 225 Fifth Avenue (now shuttered). I was aware that they were not antiques, but that's all I knew about them. I just knew that I loved them! In time, after a bit of research, I learned about them—and came to love them all the more.
They figures are modeled after (and approximately the same size as) the pair of angels standing sentry before the tomb of Saint Domenic, l'Arca di San Domenico, in Bologna, Italy. Saint Domenic was a Spanish priest and founder of the Dominican order. The tomb, grand and ambitious, houses Domenic's relics and provides a suitable focus for the thousands of pilgrims who come to visit his sarcophagus every year. Domenic died in 1221, was canonized in 1234, and his tomb was begun shortly thereafter. Over 200 years, it was moved and embellished significantly.
The female candle-bearing angel, on the left, was carved in marble by Niccolò dell'Arca who died in 1490, before the second angel could be carved. A teenaged Michelangelo Buonarroti then was hired to carve the second angel (in 1494-1495)—a muscular male companion (and counterpoint) to the first figure. It's one of his earliest commissions. Though still a youngster, Michelangelo was already demonstrating his signature, masculine aesthetic. For the next seven decades, Michelangelo would carve (and paint) muscular Renaissance and Mannerist figures, much like this angel. Michelangelo would go on to become one of the most important artists in history—befitting his nickname, "Il Divino."
I bought these angels with every intention of selling them. They were priced (admittedly expensively) and displayed for sale in the shop. On LEO Design's first Christmas Eve, in 1995, I moved them into the shop window where they stayed until New Year's Eve. I repeated the display the next Christmas Eve (1996). And, starting with the third Christmas Eve, I added a "solemn procession" to the festivity—as we marched them up to the front of the store, for installation in the window (shortly before the 10:00 pm closing time during the Christmas season). At this point, I had displayed them for well-over two years, generating a few nibbles but no bites. And, by this point, I had developed a tradition for myself, my staff and the neighbors who would look for them in the window. It was in 1997 that I decided to remove the price tag and keep them for LEO Design. And, since then, they have remained an important (and permanent) feature of our annual Christmas tradition.
Though our Greenwich Village store is now permanently closed, LEO Design is still alive and well! Please visit our on-line store where we continue to sell Handsome Gifts (www.LEOdesignNYC.com).
We also can be found in Pittsburgh's historic "Strip District" at Mahla & Co. Antiques (www.mahlaantiques.com) or in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania at The Antique Center of Strabane (www.antiquecenterofstrabane.com).
Or call to arrange to visit our Pittsburgh showroom (by private appointment only). 917-446-4248