FDA-Sc.258-2026
Parts
Object number
FDA-Sc.258-2026
Identification
Title
Falling Angel
Title Type
assigned by artist
Description
Abstract angel figure with uneven surface texture
Comments
When the Burton-on-Trent Growing Form was being cast, Merchant wandered through the foundry at Stratford-on-Avon and among and among the debris on the floor found a splash of aluminium which had dropped from a bucket. It seemed to him to be the wings of a fallen angel, so he asked Paul Waters, the foundry-man, to weld a head onto the broken body. This became the falling Lucifer of Paradise Lost. Later it became an integral part of Merchant’s Confrontation of Angels in which St Michael overcomes Lucifer and watches his fall. Two small versions, with aluminium figures on Horton Stone, were made, and then a larger version which now stands near the entrance to Leamington Parish Church.
Description
Dimensions
height (actual size): 345mm
width (actual size): 215mm
depth (actual size): 70mm
width (actual size): 215mm
depth (actual size): 70mm
Materials & techniques note
Aluminium
Production
Person
Merchant, Moelwyn, 1913 - 1997 (Artist)
Date
c.1982
History and association
Object history note
Provenance: Collection of the artist; by whom presented to Eton College in 1988, with continual additions presented until 1997
Exhibited: ‘Sculptor and Poet’, College Library, Eton College, 1998 (catalogue number 10)
Exhibited: ‘Sculptor and Poet’, College Library, Eton College, 1998 (catalogue number 10)
