Antony Gormley is perhaps best known for his
200-tonne Angel of the North (1998), which dominates the landscape
near Gateshead.
Both share that familiar, evocative silhouette. At the same time
human, superhuman and inhuman, a symbol of triumph and of our own
mortality, the form of Case for an Angel I echoes many other works
in the Museum – Egyptian statues, Assyrian winged bulls, Christian
Crucifixions, and of course the Roman caryatid statue on the nearby
stairs.
Unlike its monumental offspring, this angel is – despite its 8.5
metre wingspan – defiantly human-sized. It is a metaphor for
humanity’s capacity to imagine and create.