Artwork
Angel of the Annunciation
Angel of the Annunciation is a photographic photography by Edgar Lissel. It dates from 2002 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Light leaked through a tiny hole for a full day and made a negative print on photo paper inside the case.
This photo turns an old carved angel into something new. Edgar Lissel shot it in 2002 at the Victoria and Albert Museum. He used a giant pinhole camera built right around the angel’s display case. Light leaked through a tiny hole for a full day and made a negative print on photo paper inside the case.
The sculpture’s shape shows up flipped. The gallery’s lights look like black stars in the image. It makes the 15th-century angel feel like it’s floating in space.
Check out the artist Lissel, Edgar.
Overview
Angel of the Annunciation is a photograph created by Edgar Lissel in 2002 during a residency at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The work reinterprets a 15th-century carved oak angel through an unconventional photographic process.
Subject & Meaning
The subject is a 15th-century carved oak angel, transformed by the photographic technique into a silhouette that appears to float in a celestial environment. The image inverts the sculpture and its surroundings, creating a sense of weightlessness and otherworldliness.
Technique & Style
Lissel employed a giant pinhole camera (camera obscura) constructed around the angel's display case. A twenty-four-hour exposure of ambient light through a pinhole onto photographic paper inside the case produced a unique, inverted negative image.
History & Provenance
Commissioned by the V&A for the 'Seeing Things: Photographing Objects 1850-2001' exhibition, the photograph was created during Lissel's two-week residency in 2002.
Context
The piece was part of an exhibition focusing on the photographic representation of objects from 1850 to 2001, highlighting innovative approaches to capturing museum artifacts.
Artist & collection
Artist
Edgar Lissel treats light like a sculptor, folding it into crisp geometric shapes that seem to float off the paper.
