Angels in Our Midst (2)

Angels in Art

Expectedly, it is the language of art that gave shape to the intangible nature of angels.  Artists through the centuries have endowed them with form based on their imaginings and their understanding of the scriptures.  In our part of the world, deeply influenced by Western culture, the form of angels as we know them is decidedly a product of Western art.

The idea of wings representing flight, speed and courier function goes back all the way to Greek and Roman mythology.  Hermes, or Mercury, the messenger god, has wings on his feet and helmet.  The god of death Thanatos and Nike the goddess of victory also have wings.  But it is Cupid, the mischievous god of love portrayed as a child with wings, that was adopted more by artists for use in religious art.

The Medieval Period in Europe rendered angels in woodcuts and paintings, a necessary form to convey the scriptures since most of the populace was illiterate.  Angels were portrayed with beards as their biblical allusions make them male.

In 1498, Albrecht Durer created woodcuts showing the Apocalypse described in the Book of Revelation.  In these he showed St. Michael as a mighty warrior slaying the dragon.  All his angels were militant paragons of physical power.  A little earlier, though, Fra Angelico in The Coronation of the Virgin (1430) shows angels playing various musical instruments.  Jan van Eyck painted Adoration of the Lamb (1432) with angelic musicians as well.

The early Renaissance period thus had angels singing choirs and playing musical instruments.  They not only embodied the idea of angels as happy beings who sing praises to God but also corresponded with the popularity and significance of music at the time.  Angels became softer and the cherubim with a flaming sword who guarded Eden was replaced by the cherub, the little angel of love, that looked more like Cupid rather than those militant angels of Durer.

The Renaissance Painters on Angels

One of the best-known works of Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio) is the Sistine Madonna, completed in 1512.  A detail shows two childlike angels, called putti, innocently looking at the Madonna.  The Madonna in a Garland of Flowers (1616) by Peter Paul Reubens is surrounded by putti as well.

The Annunciation inspired some of the most beautiful paintings in Western art.  Notably, this scriptural scene was painted by Petrus Christus (1492), Leonardo da Vinci (1472), the Flemish master Gerard David (1506), Gaudenzio Ferrari (1512), and Orazio Gentileschi (1623).  David’s The Annunciation portrays Gabriel in the role for which he is most famous but the Virgin Mary is nowhere to be seen.

Madonna on the Rocks (ca. 1483-1495) by Leonardo da Vinci also portrays angels, while The Sacrifice of Isaac (1635) by Rembrandt van Rijn shows an angel holding back Abraham’s right hand to stop him from fulfilling the sacrifice.

Other scriptural themes painted with angels by a number of artists are the Nativity and the Virgin and Child.  The Mystic Nativity (1500) by Sandro Botticelli, Il Guercino’s Virgin and Child with the Patron Saints of Modena (1651), and Charles le Brun’s Adoration of the Shepherds (1690) are examples.

Christ’s suffering was painted with angels too.  Giovanni Battistello’s The Agony of Christ (1615) has an angel consoling the heartbroken Christ. Angels Weeping over the Dead Christ (1618) by Il Guercino shows two angels mourning.
Michelangelo Buonarotti’s The Last Judgment (1536-1541) has seven angels described by St. John in the Apocalypse, blowing their trumpets from the four corners of the world.

Centuries Later

In the Baroque period, when art became sensuous, angels became luxuriant beings.  Far from the solemn beings of the Middle Ages, they now became representations of strength and beauty, considered more artistic yet deviating even farther from biblical teachings.

By the middle of the 18th century, angels have become decorative and ornamental figures.  Then their very existence was called into question in the age of Enlightenment, which did away with religious speculation and expression.  They disappeared from the visual arts.

The early 19th century saw the recovery of angels as religious art as well as their reentry into popular culture in the West.  Pictures of guardian angels found their way into children’s bedrooms and their marble figures became standard fixtures in graveyards.

Now, where we are, the entry of angels into popular culture has seeped into brands.  Foremost are the ubiquitous amber-colored bottles of San Miguel Beer.  The picture on the bottle of Ginebra San Miguel is a local take on Raphael’s St. Michael Trampling the Dragon (1518).  In the town of Samboan, Cebu is a tourist spot called “Jacob’s Ladder.”  Here in the city we have a travel agency called “Angel’s Wings.”  And who is not familiar with the pastry angel cake, or a plant called angel’s hair?

These days, when the revival of spiritual ideals is deemed pervasive, angels continue to be spiritual symbols that embody human aspirations of what is pure and true, no matter how one speculates on their form.  The Jewish and Islamic thought that has the Angel of Death as the being who watches over the dying and separates the soul from the body may lessen the fear and sorrow out of death.  Or one can take comfort in yet another definition of angel, which is a person deceased and received into heaven.

(2004)