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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 091 209 258 
 
In compliance with current 
 
 copyright law, Cornell University 
 
 Library produced this 
 
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 that meets the ANSI Standard 
 
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 2001 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
ANGELS IN ART 
 
{Murillo. — Guardian ^Angel 
 
ANGELS IN ART 
 
 'It 
 
 BY 
 
 CLARA ERSKINE CLEMENT 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 "A HANDBOOK OF LEGENDARY ART," 
 
 " PAINTERS, SCULPTORS, ARCHITECTS, AND ENGRAVERS,' 
 
 " ARTISTS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY," 
 
 ETC. 
 
 HlusttatcU 
 
 BOSTON 
 L. C. PAGE AND COMPANY 
 
 (incorpobatbd) 
 
 7898 
 
 1.V 
 
.vr—-. 
 
 ^■'^K5t 
 
 ^''I'^i < 
 
 ) 
 
 Copyright, iSg8 
 
 By L. C. Page and Company 
 
 (incorporated) 
 
 / " ■ — ■ I •' -■ / / - 
 
 / o o <;' ■■ - - 
 
 ffialmtial 53wbb: 
 
 Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Slraonds & Co. 
 Boston, U. S. A. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER FAGB 
 
 I. Introductory ii 
 
 II. Archangels — Michael ... 46 
 
 III. The Archangel Gabriel ... 84 
 
 IV. The Archangel Raphael . . .105 
 V. Guardian Angels, Angel Choristers, 
 
 AND Adoring Angels — Demons 
 
 and Evil Spirits .... 135 
 VI. Pictures of Angels as authorized by 
 
 the Scriptures . . . .158 
 
 VII. Pictures which illustrate both 
 
 Scripture and Legend . . . 203 
 VIII. Angels in Pictures of the Virgin 
 
 Mary 223 
 
 Index 263 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 MURILLO. — Guardian Angel Frontispiece 
 
 Perugino. — A Six-winged Cherub (from the Assump- 
 tion of the Virgin) 2i 
 
 Fra Angelico. — A Glory of Angels 29 
 
 Fra Angelico. — An Angel of the Tabernacle . . 37 
 
 Francesco Albani. — The Child Jesus with Angels . 43 
 Raphael. — The Archangel Michael casting Satan out 
 
 of Heaven . . . . 53 
 
 GuiDO Reni. — The Archangel Michael overpowering 
 
 Satan .... 63 
 
 H. MtJcKE. — The Translation of St. Catherine of 
 
 Alexandria . . . . 71 
 
 Fra Filippo Lippi. — The Annunciation of the Death 
 
 of the Virgin Mary .... 79 
 
 Fra Filippo Lippl — A Divided Annunciation . . 89 
 
 Alessandro Allori. — ^The Annunciation .... 95 
 
 Fra Angelico. — The Annunciation loi 
 
 Andrea del Sarto. — The Archangel Raphael con- 
 ducting the young Tobias lii 
 
 9 
 
10 ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Giovanni Biliverti. — The Archangel Raphael refus- 
 ing the Gifts of Tobias 117 
 
 Sandro Botticelli. — The Archangel Raphael (from 
 
 a picture of Tobias and the three Archangels) . . 123 
 
 Fra Angelico. — Angel Choristers 137 
 
 Kauleach. — The Angel of Peace 141 
 
 Perugino. — Musical Angels 147 
 
 Francesco Granacci. — Angels in Adoration. . . 153 
 
 11 Sodoma. — The Sacrifice of Abraham 161 
 
 Melozzo da Forll — An Angel 173 
 
 Ary Scheffer. — The Temptation of Christ . . 181 
 Sir Edward Burne-Jones. — Mary Magdalene at the 
 
 Sepulchre 187 
 
 Fra Angelico. — An Angel conducting a Soul to 
 
 Heaven 195 
 
 Fra Bartolommeo. ■ — An Angel playing the Violin . 201 
 
 Lorenzo di Credi. — An Angel in Adoration . . 205 
 
 French. — Death staying the Hand of the Sculptor 211 
 
 RosSETTl. — The Annunciation 221 
 
 Francesco Granacci. — The Virgin and Angels 225 
 
 Francesco Francia. — A Pieta .... ... 233 
 
 Murillo. — The Immaculate Conception 237 
 
 Sandro Botticelli. — Madonna and Angels . . 243 
 
 Bouguereau. — The Virgin and the Angels . . . 251 
 
 Titian. — The Assumption of the Virgin 255 
 
ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Angels and archangels, cheru- 
 bim and seraphim, and all the 
 glorious hosts of heaven were 
 a fruitful source of inspiration to the old- 
 est painters and sculptors whose works 
 are known to us, while the artists of our 
 more practical, less dreamful age are, from 
 time to time, inspired to reproduce their 
 conceptions of the guardian angels of 
 our race. 
 
 The Almighty declared to Job that the 
 creation of the world was welcomed with 
 shouts of joy by "all the sons of God," 
 
12 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 and the story of the words and works of 
 the angels written in the Scriptures — 
 from the placing of the cherubim at the 
 east of the Garden of Eden, to the wor- 
 ship of the angel by John, in the last 
 chapter of Revelation — presents them to 
 us as heavenly guides, consolers, protect- 
 ors, and reprovers of human beings. 
 
 What study is more charming and rest- 
 ful than that of the angels as set forth in 
 Holy Writ and the writings of the early 
 Church ? or more interesting to observe 
 than the manner in which the artists of 
 various nations and periods have expressed 
 their ideas concerning these celestial mes- 
 sengers of God ? What more fascinating, 
 more stimulating to the imagination and 
 further removed from the exhausting ten- 
 sion of our day and generation ? 
 
 The Old Testament represents the an- 
 gels as an innumerable host, discerning 
 good and evil by reason of superior intel- 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 1 3 
 
 ligence, and without passion doing the 
 will of God. Having the power to slay, 
 it is only exercised by the command of 
 the Almighty, and not until after the Cap- 
 tivity do we read of evil angels who work 
 wickedness among men. In fact, after 
 this time the Hebrews seem to have 
 added much to their angelic theory and 
 faith which harmonizes with the religion 
 of the Chaldeans, and with the teaching 
 of Zoroaster. 
 
 The angels of the New Testament, 
 while exempt from need and suffering, 
 have sympathy with human sorrow, re- 
 joice over repentance of sin, attend on 
 prayerful souls, and conduct the spirits of 
 the just to heaven when the earthly life 
 is ended. 
 
 One may doubt, however, if from the 
 Scriptural teaching concerning angels 
 would emanate the universal interest in 
 their representation, and the personal 
 
14 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 sympathy with it, which is commonly 
 shared by all sorts and conditions of men, 
 did they not cherish a belief — consciously 
 or otherwise — that beings superior to 
 themselves exist, and employ their super- 
 human powers for the blessing of our 
 race, and for the welfare of individuals. 
 Evidently Spenser felt this when he wrote: 
 
 " How oft do they their silver bowers leave, 
 And come to succor us that succor want ? 
 How oft do they with golden pinions cleave 
 The flitting skies, like flying pursuivant, 
 Against foul fiends, to aid us militant ? 
 They for us fight, they watch, and duly ward, 
 And their bright squadrons round about us plant, 
 And all for love, and nothing for reward 1 
 Oh, why should heavenly God to men have such re- 
 gard ! " 
 
 As early as the fourth century the 
 Christian Church had developed a pro- 
 found belief in the existence of both 
 good and evil angels, — "the foul fiends" 
 and " bright squadrons " of Spenser's lines, 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 1 5 
 
 — the former ever tempting human be- 
 ings to sin, and the indulgence of their 
 lower natures ; the latter inciting them to 
 pursue good, forsaking evil and pressing 
 forward to the perfect Christian life. This 
 faith is devoutly maintained in the writ- 
 ings of the Fathers of the Church, in 
 which we are also taught that angelic 
 aid may be invoked in our need, and 
 that a consciousness of the abiding 
 presence of celestial beings should be 
 a supreme solace to human sorrow and 
 suffering. 
 
 It remained for the theologians of the 
 Middle Ages to exercise their fruitful 
 imaginations in originating a systematic 
 classification of the Orders of the Heav- 
 enly Host, and assigning to each rank 
 its distinctive ofifice. The warrant for 
 these discriminations may seem insuffi- 
 cient to sceptical minds, but as their 
 results are especially manifest in the 
 
1 6 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 works of the old masters, some knowl- 
 edge of them is necessary to the student 
 of Art; without it a large proportion of 
 the famous religious pictures of the world 
 are utterly void of meaning. 
 
 Speaking broadly, this classification was 
 based on that of St. Paul, when he speaks 
 of " the principalities and powers in heav- 
 enly places," and of " thrones and domin- 
 ions ; " on the account by Jude of the fall 
 of the " angels which kept not their first 
 estate;" on the triumphs of the Archangel 
 Michael, and a few other texts of Scrip- 
 ture. Upon these premises the angelic 
 host was divided into three hierarchies, 
 and these again into nine choirs. 
 
 The first hierarchy embraces seraphim, 
 cherubim, and thrones, the first mention 
 being sometimes given to the cherubim. 
 Dionysius the Areopagite — to whom St. 
 Paul confided all that he had seen, when 
 transported to the seventh heaven — ac- 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 1 7 
 
 cords the first rank to the seraphim, 
 while the famiHar hymn of St. Ambrose 
 has accustomed us to saying, " To Thee, 
 cherubim and seraphim continually do 
 cry." Dante gives preference to Dionys- 
 ius as an authority, and says of him : 
 
 " For he had learn'd 
 Both this and much beside of these our orbs 
 From an eye-witness to Heaven's mysteries." 
 
 The second hierarchy includes the 
 dominations, virtues, and powers; the 
 third, princedoms, archangels, and an- 
 gels. The first hierarchy receives its 
 glory directly from the Almighty, and 
 transmits it to the second, which, in 
 turn, illuminates the third, which is es- 
 pecially dedicated to the care and service 
 of the human race. 
 
 From the third hierarchy come the 
 ministers and messengers of God ; the 
 second is composed of governors, and 
 the first of councillors. The choristers 
 
1 8 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 of heaven are also angels, and the mak- 
 ing of music is an important angelic duty. 
 
 The seraphim immediately surround 
 the throne of God, and are ever lost in 
 adoration and love, which is expressed 
 in their very name, seraph coming from 
 a Hebrew root, meaning love. The cher- 
 ubim also worship the Creator, and are 
 assigned to some special duties ; they 
 are superior in knowledge, and the word 
 cherub, also from the Hebrew, signifies 
 to know. Thrones sustain the seat of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 The second hierarchy governs the ele- 
 ments and the stars. Princedoms protect 
 earthly monarchies, while archangels and 
 angels are the agents of God in his deal- 
 ings with humanity. The title of angel, 
 signifying a messenger, may be, and is, 
 given to a man bearing important tidings. 
 Thus the Evangelists are represented with 
 wings, and John the Baptist is, in this 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 1 9 
 
 sense, an angel. The Greeks sometimes 
 represent Christ with wings, and call him 
 " The Great Angel of the Will of God." 
 
 Very early in the history of Art a 
 system of religious symbolism existed, a 
 knowledge of which greatly enhances the 
 pleasure derived from representations of 
 sacred subjects. In no case was this 
 symbolism more carefully observed than 
 in the representations of angels. The 
 aureole or nimbus is never omitted from 
 the head of an angel, and is always, 
 wherever used, the symbol of sanctity. 
 
 Wings are the distinctive angelic sym- 
 bol, and are emblematic of spirit, power, 
 and swiftness. Seraphim and cherubim 
 are usually represented by heads with 
 one, two, or three pairs of wings, which 
 symbolize pure spirit, informed by love 
 and intelligence ; the head is an emblem 
 of the soul, the love, the knowledge, while 
 the wings have their usual significance. 
 
20 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 This manner of representing the two 
 highest orders of angels is very ancient, 
 and in the earliest instances in existence 
 the faces are human, thoughtful, and 
 mature. Gradually they became child- 
 like, and were intended to express inno- 
 cence, and later they degenerated into 
 absurd little baby heads, with little wings 
 folded under the chin. These in no sense 
 convey the original, spiritual significance 
 of the seraphic and cherubic head. 
 
 The first Scriptural mention of cheru- 
 bim with wings occurs after the departure 
 of the Israelites from Egypt, Exodus xxv., 
 20 : " And the cherubim shall stretch 
 forth their wings on high, covering the 
 mercy seat." Isaiah gives warrant for 
 six wings, as frequently represented in 
 Art, and so vividly described by Milton : 
 
 " A seraph winged ; six wings he wore to shade 
 
 His lineaments divine ; the pair that clad 
 
 Each shoulder broad, came mantling o'er his breast 
 
ri-:KL (;ixm. - - a M\ -w I s(,i.I) i ii i i;i r.. I''i;i i.\i rii i-: .\s- 
 
 SL WLI'IUIN HI' Till. \ IKI.IN. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 23 
 
 With regal ornament ; the middle pair 
 Girt like a starry zone his waist, and round 
 Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold 
 And colors dipp'd in heaven ; the third, his feet 
 Shadow'd from either heel with feather'd mail, 
 Sky-tinctured grain." 
 
 In Ezekiel we read that " their wings 
 were stretched upward when they flew; 
 when they stood they let down their 
 wings." There is, no doubt, Scriptural 
 authority for representing angels' wings 
 in the most realistic manner, since Daniel 
 says " they had wings like a fowl." Is it 
 not more desirable, however, to see angel- 
 wings rather than bird-wings ? The more 
 devout and imaginative artists succeeded 
 in overcoming the commonplace in this 
 regard by various devices. For example, 
 Orcagna, in the Campo Santo at Pisa, 
 makes the bodies of his angels to end 
 in delicate wings instead of legs ; in some 
 old pictures the wings fade into a cloudy 
 vapor, or burst into flames. In one of 
 
24 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Raphael's frescoes in the Vatican, we see 
 fiery cherubs, their hair, wings, and Hmbs 
 ending in glowing flames, while their 
 faces are full of spirit and intelligence. 
 Certainly, if anywhere purely impression- 
 ist painting is acceptable and fitting, it is 
 in the portrayal of heavenly wings. 
 
 Mrs. Jameson, in writing of this subject, 
 says, " Infinitely more beautiful and con- 
 sistent are the nondescript wings which 
 the early painters gave their angels : 
 large, — so large that, when the glorious 
 creature is represented as at rest, they 
 droop from the shoulders to the ground; 
 with long, slender feathers, eyed sometimes 
 like the peacock's train, bedropped with 
 gold like the pheasant's breast, tinted 
 with azure and violet and crimson, ' Col- 
 ors dipp'd in Heaven,' — they are really 
 angel-wings, not bird-wings." 
 
 It is interesting to note that wings 
 were used by the artists of ancient 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 25 
 
 Egypt, Babylon, Nineveh, and Etruria 
 as symbols of might, majesty, and divine 
 beauty. 
 
 The representation of great numbers of 
 angels, surrounding the Deity, the Trin- 
 ity, or the glorified Virgin, is known as 
 a Glory of Angels, and is most expressive 
 and poetical when cesthetically portrayed. 
 A Glory, when properly represented, is 
 composed of the hierarchies of angels in 
 circles, each hierarchy in its proper order. 
 Complete Glories, with nine circles, are 
 exceedingly rare. Many artists contented 
 themselves with two or three, and some- 
 times but a single circle, thus symbolizing 
 the symbol of the Glory. 
 
 The nine choirs of angels are repre- 
 sented in various ways when not in a 
 Glory, and are frequently seen in ancient 
 frescoes, mosaics, and sculptures. Some- 
 times each choir has three figures, thus 
 symbolizing the Trinity ; again, two fig- 
 
26 ANGELS IN ART, 
 
 ures stand for each choir, and occasion- 
 ally nine figures personate the three 
 hierarchies; in the last representation 
 careful attention was given to colors as 
 well as to symbols. 
 
 The Princedoms and Powers of Heaven 
 are represented by rows and groups of 
 angels, all wearing the same dress and 
 the same tiara, and bearing the orb of 
 sovereignty and wands like sceptres. 
 
 One of the most important elements 
 in the proper painting of seraphs and 
 cherubs was the use of color, while 
 greater freedom was permitted in the 
 portrayal of other angelic orders. In a 
 Glory, for example, the inner circle should 
 be glowing red, the symbol of love ; the 
 second, blue, the emblem of light, which 
 again symbolizes knowledge. 
 
 Angelic symbolism in its purity makes 
 the " blue-eyed seraphim " and the " smil- 
 ing cherubim " equally incorrect, since the 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 1'] 
 
 seraph should be glowing with divine love, 
 and the face of the cherub should be ex- 
 pressive of serious meditation, — as Mil- 
 ton says, "the Cherub Contemplation." 
 The familiar cherubim beneath Raphael's 
 famous Madonna di San Sisto, in the Dres- 
 den Gallery, are exquisite illustrations of 
 this thoughtfulness. 
 
 The colors of the oldest pictures, of 
 the illuminated manuscripts, the stained 
 glass, and the painted sculptures were 
 most carefully considered. Gradually, 
 however, the color law was less faith- 
 fully observed, until, at the end of the 
 fifteenth and the beginning of the six- 
 teenth centuries, it was not unusual to 
 see the wings of cherubim in various 
 colors, while cherub heads were repre- 
 sented as floating in clouds with no 
 apparent wings. 
 
 Two pictures of world-wide fame illus- 
 trate this change, — Raphael's Madonna, 
 
28 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 mentioned above, and Perugino's Coro- 
 nation of the Virgin. In the first, the en- 
 tire background is composed of seraphs 
 and cherubs apparently evolved from thin 
 blue air, and in constant danger of disap- 
 pearing in the golden-tinted background. 
 In the second, the multi-colored wings 
 of the floating cherubim are beautiful and 
 the harmony of ^ tones is exquisite, but 
 they represent an innovation to which one 
 must become more and more accustomed 
 as artists are less reverent in their work. 
 
 The five angelic choirs which follow the 
 seraphim and cherubim are not familiar 
 to us in works of art, although they were 
 painted with great accuracy in the words 
 of the mediaeval theologians. 
 
 When archangels are represented merely 
 as belonging to their order, and not in their 
 distinctive offices, they are in complete 
 armor, and bear swords with the points 
 upwards, and sometimes a trumpet also. 
 
Kka A.\i;ki.[c II. — A ('.i.iiKV uK A.\(ii:i.: 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 3 1 
 
 Angels are robed, and are represented 
 in accordance with the work in which 
 they are engaged. Strictly speaking, the 
 wand is the angeUc symbol, but must be 
 frequently omitted, as when the hands are 
 folded in prayer, or musical instruments 
 are in use, and in a variety of other occu- 
 pations. 
 
 All angels are said to be masculine. 
 They are represented as having human 
 forms and faces, young, beautiful, perfect, 
 with an expression of other-worldliness. 
 They are created beings, therefore not 
 eternal, but they are never old, and 
 should not be infantile. Such represen- 
 tations as can be called infant angels 
 should symbolize the souls of regenerate 
 men, or the spirits of such as die in in- 
 fancy, — those of whom Jesus said that 
 " in heaven their angels do always behold 
 the face of my Father." 
 
 Angels are changeless ; for them time 
 
32 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 does not exist ; they enjoy perpetual youth 
 and uninterrupted bliss. To these quali- 
 ties should be added an impression of 
 unusual power, wisdom, innocence, and 
 spiritual love. 
 
 In the earliest pictures of angels the 
 drapery was ample, and no unusual atti- 
 tudes, no insufficient robes, nor unsuitable 
 expression was seen in such representa- 
 tions so long as religious art was at its 
 best. 
 
 White should be the prevailing color 
 of angelic drapery, but delicate shades of 
 blue, red, and green were frequently em- 
 ployed with wonderful efifect. The Vene- 
 tians used an exquisite pale salmon color 
 in the drapery of their angels ; but no dark 
 or heavy colors are seen in the robes of 
 angels in the pictures of the old Italian 
 masters. The early German painters, 
 however, affected angelic draperies of such 
 vast expanse and weighty coloring, em- 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 33 
 
 broidery, and jewels, that apparently their 
 angels must perforce descend to earth, and 
 never hope to rise again without a change 
 of toilet. 
 
 I shall presently speak of angels in 
 their offices of messengers, guardians, 
 choristers, and comforters. At present I 
 am thinking of the multitudes of angels 
 which were introduced into early religious 
 pictures to indicate a "cloud of witnesses." 
 They lend an element of beauty and of 
 spiritual emotion to the scenes honored 
 with their presence. Their effectiveness 
 has appealed to many Christian architects 
 who have fully profited by the example 
 of Solomon, who " carved all the walls of 
 the house — temple — with carved figures 
 of cherubim," and he made the doors of 
 olive-tree, and he carved on them figures 
 of cherubim. 
 
 In the same manner, in many old 
 churches, angels carved in marble, stone 
 
34 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 or wood, and painted on glass, in frescoes 
 on walls, and in smaller pictures, fill all 
 spaces, and are everywhere beautiful. So 
 long, however, as the stricter theological 
 observances prevailed, angels were not 
 permitted as mere decorations, but were 
 so placed as to illustrate some solemn 
 and significant portion of the belief and 
 teaching of the Church. 
 
 Angels were only second to the persons 
 of the Trinity at this period, and preceded 
 the Evangelists. They were represented 
 as surrounding divine -beings, and the 
 Virgin Enthroned, or in Glory. 
 
 What was known as a Liturgy of 
 Angels was most effective and beautiful. 
 It consisted of a procession of angels 
 on each side of the choir, apparently 
 approaching the altar, all wearing the 
 stole and alba of a deacon, and bearing 
 the implements of the mass. The statues 
 of kneeling angels, not infrequently placed 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 35 
 
 on each side the altar, holding tapers, or 
 the emblems of the Passion of Christ, 
 were not mere decorations, but symbol- 
 ized the angelic presence wherever Christ 
 is worshipped. In short, either proces- 
 sions or single figures of angels, in any 
 part of a church, and apparently approach- 
 ing the altar, are symbols of the glorious 
 hosts of heaven who evermore praise God. 
 
 During the first three centuries of 
 Christianity the representation of angels 
 was not permissible, and it is interest- 
 ing to observe the crude and curious 
 manner in which they were pictured in 
 the illuminated manuscripts and the mo- 
 saics of the fifth century. Indeed, until 
 the tenth century the angels in Art were 
 curiously formed, and more curiously 
 draped. 
 
 Giotto first approached the ideal rep- 
 resentation of angels, and, naturally, his 
 pupils excelled him in their conception 
 
36 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 of what these celestial beings should be. 
 It was, however, Angelico who first — 
 and shall we not say last? — succeeded 
 in portraying absolutely unearthly angels, 
 — angels who must have appeared to him 
 in his holy dreams, and impressed them- 
 selves on his pure spirit in such a wise 
 that with mere paints and brushes he 
 could picture a superhuman purity. 
 
 Not an angel of Angelico's resembles 
 any man, while in the angels of other 
 masters, beautiful, seraphic, and charm- 
 ing as they may be, we often fancy that 
 we see a beautiful boy, or a happy child, 
 who might have served the artist as an 
 angel-making model. 
 
 Wonderfully celestial as Angelico's an- 
 gels seem to be, they are feminine, almost 
 without exception. In his time this criti- 
 cism was held to be a serious one ; but 
 since angels are sexless, — according to 
 the religious teaching on which this 
 
Kn V. A\(.i-.Lii I ). — Ax An(;i'.i, of Tin-; 'r.M'.i'-KNAc i.i 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 39 
 
 spiritually-minded monk relied, — I fail 
 to see ground for disapprobation of his 
 work. 
 
 The angels of Giotto and Benozzo 
 Gozzoli, with all their beauty, are also 
 feminine, while the great Michael Angelo, 
 whose angels have not yet attained to 
 wings, failed to represent such celestial 
 beings as one would choose as personal 
 attendants. 
 
 Leonardo's angels almost grin ; Cor- 
 reggio reproduced the lovely children who 
 did duty as his angels ; almost the same 
 may be said of Titian ; while in the pic- 
 tures by Francesco Albani, Guido Reni, 
 and the Caracci, the angels are simply 
 attractive and even elegant boys, as may 
 be seen in our illustration of the child 
 Jesus with angels, by Albani. It is so 
 difificult to distinguish the angels of some 
 artists from their cupids, that one can 
 only decide between them by learning 
 
40 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 the titles of their pictures. These are 
 characteristics of the works of these 
 masters as a whole, with rare exceptions, 
 rather than of single pictures. 
 
 To whom, then, may one look for satis- 
 factory angels ? For myself, I answer, to 
 Raphael, and especially to his later works. 
 His angels are sexless, spiritual, graceful, 
 and, at the same time, the personification 
 of intelligence and power, as may be seen 
 in our illustration of the Archangel Mi- 
 chael. Witness also the three angels in 
 the Expulsion of Heliodorus from the 
 Temple, in the Stanza della Signatura, 
 in the Vatican. They are without wings, 
 and none are needed to emphasize their 
 godlike wrath against the thief who 
 robbed the widow and orphan in the 
 very temple of the Most High. The 
 celestial warrior on his celestial steed, — 
 believed to be St. Michael, in his office 
 of Protector of the Hebrews, — the deadly 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 4 1 
 
 mace drawn back ready to strike the 
 fallen robber, and his two rapidly glid- 
 ing attendants, with streaming hair and 
 swift, spirit-like movement, are such con- 
 ceptions and personifications of super- 
 human power as can scarcely be paral- 
 lelled in any other work of Art. 
 
 Rembrandt, too, painted wonderful an- 
 gels. No adjective ordinarily applied to 
 such pictures is suited to these. They 
 are poetical, unearthly apparitions, and 
 once studied, can no more be forgotten 
 than can some of Dante's and Shake- 
 peare's immortal lines. 
 
 Modern artists have, speaking gen- 
 erally, wisely followed the examples of 
 old masters in their treatment of angels. 
 The poet Blake, however, is a notable ex- 
 ception to this rule. He painted angels 
 that surely "sing to heaven," while they 
 float upon the air which their diaphanous 
 drapery scarcely displaces, and seem about 
 
42 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 to vanish and become a portion of the 
 ether which surrounds them. 
 
 I cannot better close this chapter than 
 by quoting what Mr. Ruskin writes of the 
 earlier and later representations of angels. 
 
 He says of the earlier pictures that 
 there is " a certain confidence in the way 
 in which angels trust to their wings, very 
 characteristic of a period of bold and 
 simple conception. Modern science has 
 taught us that a wing cannot be anatom- 
 ically joined to a shoulder; and, in propor- 
 tion as painters approach more and more 
 to the scientific, as distinguished from the 
 contemplative state of mind, they put the 
 wings of their angels on more timidly, 
 and dwell with greater emphasis on the 
 human form, with less upon the wings, 
 until these last become a species of deco- 
 rative appendage, — a mere sig7t of an 
 angel. 
 
 " But in Giotto's time an angel was a 
 
FnAXCEsco Ai.r.AM. — Thi-; Child Jicsl's with Angels. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 45 
 
 complete creature, as much believed in 
 as a bird, and the way in which it would, 
 or might, cast itself into the air, and lean 
 hither and thither on its plumes, was as 
 naturally apprehended as the manner of 
 flight of a chough or a starling. 
 
 " Hence, Dante's simple and most exqui- 
 site synonym for angel, ' Bird of God ; ' 
 and hence, also, a variety and picturesque- 
 ness in the expression of the movements 
 of the heavenly hierarchies by the earlier 
 painters, ill-replaced by the powers of 
 foreshortening and throwing naked limbs 
 into fantastic positions, which appear in 
 the cherubic groups of later times." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 ARCHANGELS. 
 SAINT MICHAEL. 
 
 (HE archangels alone have names, 
 and being known to us by them, 
 as well as in connection with 
 certain important events in heaven and 
 on earth, we involuntarily think of them 
 with a more intimate and, at the same 
 time, a more reverent and sympathetic 
 feeling than we can possibly have for 
 the numberless nameless angels of the 
 heavenly choir. 
 
 In works of Art, these last are always 
 
 beautiful, always smiling, and ever ready 
 
 to appear in greater or lesser numbers 
 
 whenever any notable religious event is 
 
 46 
 
ARCHANGELS. 47 
 
 taking place, thus apparently justifying 
 those who believe that we are always sur- 
 rounded by these celestial beings. They 
 are a most decorative audience of wit- 
 nesses, and when they are playing upon 
 their musical instruments, or with open 
 lips and upturned, rapturous eyes are 
 singing praises to God, they contribute 
 an enchanting element to the represen- 
 tation. 
 
 But the story of the archangels and 
 their wonderful deeds, as told in Scrip- 
 ture and in the sacred legends, im- 
 presses us with a vivid sense of their 
 marvellous power and wisdom, as well as 
 of their tender sympathy for the human 
 beings whom they protected and served 
 in their ofHce of guardians and defenders. 
 The official duties that have been as- 
 signed them by the theologians have the 
 effect of giving them a place, so to speak, 
 in which we may think of them ; and this 
 
48 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 serves to make them more positively exist- 
 ent to our minds than other angels are. 
 In comparison with such a personality 
 as we must involuntarily give to St. 
 Michael, the hovering, musical angels are 
 so intangible, such veritable airy visions, 
 that they elude all practical thought of 
 them, and appear to be evolved upon 
 occasion from the air into which they 
 vanish. 
 
 Michael (like unto God) is the cap- 
 tain-general and leader of the heavenly 
 host; the protector of the Hebrew na- 
 tion, and the conqueror of the hosts of 
 hell ; the lord and guardian of souls, 
 and the patron saint and prince of the 
 Church militant. His attributes are the 
 sceptre, the sword, and the scales. 
 
 Gabriel (God is my strength) is the 
 guardian of the celestial treasury; a bearer 
 of important messages ; the angel of the 
 Annunciation, and the preceptor of the 
 
ARCHANGELS. 49 
 
 Patriarch Joseph. His symbol is the 
 Hly. 
 
 Raphael (the medicine of God) is 
 the chief of guardian angels, and was 
 the conductor of the young Tobias. He 
 bears the staff and gourd of a pilgrim. 
 
 Uriel (the light of God) is regent of 
 the sun, and was the teacher of Esdras. 
 His symbols are a roll and book. 
 
 Chamuel (one who sees God) is be- 
 lieved by some to be the angel who 
 wrestled with Jacob, and who appeared 
 to Christ during the agony in the garden. 
 Others believe the latter to have been 
 Gabriel. Chamuel bears a cup and staff. 
 Jophiel (the beauty of God) is the 
 guardian of the Tree of Knowledge, who 
 drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of 
 Eden ; the protector of seekers for truth ; 
 the preceptor of the sons of Noah ; the 
 enemy of those who pursue vain knowl- 
 edge. His attribute is a flaming sword. 
 
50 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Zadkiel (the righteousness of God) is 
 sometimes said to have stayed the hand 
 of Abraham from the sacrifice of Isaac, 
 while others beheve this to have been 
 the work of Michael. The sacrificial 
 knife is the symbol of Zadkiel. 
 
 When the archangels are represented 
 merely as such, without reference to their 
 distinctive offices, they are in complete 
 armor, holding swords with the points 
 upwards, and sometimes bearing trum- 
 pets also. They are of a twofold nature, 
 since they are powers, as are the prince- 
 doms, and fulfil the duties of messengers 
 and ministers, as do the angels. 
 
 Although each of the seven archangels 
 has been many times represented in works 
 of Art, I know of no example in which 
 they are seen together, and can be distin- 
 guished by name. There are occasional 
 instances of the representation of seven 
 angels, blowing trumpets, which are in- 
 
ARCHANGELS. 5 1 
 
 tended to illustrate the text in Revela- 
 tion, " And I saw the seven angels which 
 stand before God, and to them were given 
 seven trumpets." 
 
 In pictures of the crucifixion, and of 
 the Virgin with the body of her dead son, 
 — known as the Pieta, — the instruments 
 of the Passion are frequently borne by 
 seven angels, and the same number ap- 
 pear in pictures of the last judgment. 
 But as neither the Eastern or Western 
 Church acknowledged the seven archan- 
 gels, it is probable that these pictures 
 represent the angels of Revelation. 
 
 A most interesting example of artistic 
 symbolism is seen in a picture painted in 
 1352 by Taddeo Gaddi, and now in the 
 Church of Santa Maria Novella, in Flor- 
 ence. Here seven angels attend on St. 
 Thomas Aquinas, and bear the symbols 
 of the distinguished virtues of this rev- 
 erend and learned saint. The symbols 
 
52 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 are a church — Religion ; a crown and 
 sceptre — Power ; a book — Knowledge ; 
 a cross and shield — Faith ; an olive 
 branch — Peace ; flames of fire — Piety 
 and Charity; and a lily — Purity. 
 
 The Hebrews believed that Michael, 
 Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel sustain the 
 throne of God. The first three are rev- 
 erenced as saints in the Catholic Church ; 
 and their divine achievements and celes- 
 tial beauty have been a fruitful inspiration 
 to painters and sculptors, resulting in 
 the creation of many immortal works of 
 art. 
 
 The Archangel Michael is reverenced 
 as the first and mightiest of all created 
 beings. He was worshipped by the Chal- 
 deans, and the Gnostics taught that he 
 was the leader of the seven angels who 
 created the universe. After the Captivity 
 the Hebrews regarded him as all that is 
 implied by the Prophet Daniel when he 
 
Raphael. — The AKruAXCiEL Michael ( astlnv; Satam 
 OLT OE Hea\'ex. 
 
ARCHANGELS. 55 
 
 says, " Michael, the great prince which 
 standeth for the children of thy people." 
 It is believed that he will be privileged to 
 exalt the banner of the Cross on the 
 Judgment Day, and to command the 
 trumpet of the archangel to sound ; it 
 is on account of these oiifices that he is 
 called the " Bannerer of Heaven." 
 
 As captain of the heavenly host, it 
 devolved on Michael to conquer Lucifer 
 and his followers, and to expel them from 
 heaven after their refusal to worship the 
 Son of Man ; and terrible was the punish- 
 ment he inflicted on them. Chained in 
 mid-air, where they must remain until 
 the Judgment Day, they behold all that 
 happens on earth. Man, whom they dis- 
 dained, has flourished in their sight, and 
 wields a power that they may well envy, 
 while the souls of the redeemed constantly 
 ascend to the heaven which is closed 
 to them. Thus are they constantly tor- 
 
56 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 merited by hate, and a desire for revenge, 
 of which they must ever despair. 
 
 St. Michael is represented in art as 
 young and severely beautiful. In the 
 earliest pictures his drapery is always 
 white and his wings of many colors, while 
 his symbols, indicating that his con- 
 quests are made by spiritual force alone, 
 are a lance terminating in a cross, or a 
 sceptre. Later, it became the custom to 
 represent him in a costume and with such 
 emblems as indicated the nature of the 
 work in which he was engaged; and ex- 
 cept for the wings, his picture might 
 often be mistaken for that of a celestially 
 radiant knight, since he is clothed in 
 armor, and bears a sword, shield, and 
 lance. But his seraphic wings and his 
 bearing mark him as a mighty spiritual 
 power; and this impression is increased 
 rather than lessened, when in all humility 
 he is in the act of worship before the 
 
ARCHANGELS. 5 7 
 
 Divine Infant, or stands in reverent atti- 
 tude near the Madonna, as if to guard 
 her and her heaven-sent son. 
 
 When conquering Satan the treatment 
 is varied, but the subject is easily recog- 
 nized. More frequently than otherwise, 
 the archangel stands on the demon, who is 
 half human and half dragon, wearing a suit 
 of mail, and is about to pierce the evil 
 spirit with a lance or bind him in chains. 
 
 Such pictures date from the earliest 
 attempts in religious painting, and the 
 same subject was represented in ancient 
 sculpture. Some of these works are so 
 crude as to be absurd, but for their mani- 
 fest reverence and sincerity. An early 
 sculpture in the porch of the Cathedral of 
 Cortona, probably dating from the seventh 
 century, presents the archangel in long, 
 heavy robes, reaching to his feet; he 
 stands solidly on the back of the dragon, 
 and as if to make the footing more secure, 
 
58 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 the beast curls his tail in air and lifts 
 his head as high as possible, holding his 
 mouth wide open, into which St. Michael 
 presses his lance without a struggle. The 
 whole effect is that of some calm and 
 commonplace occurrence, and is in strik- 
 ing contrast with the spirit of the con- 
 flict which is represented, as well as 
 with the superhuman combat depicted by 
 later artists. 
 
 The dragon is personified by a variety 
 of horrible reptilian forms. Some artists 
 even attempted to follow the apocalyp- 
 tic description. " For their power is in 
 their mouth, and in their tails : for their 
 tails were like unto serpents, and had 
 heads, and with them they do hurt." 
 
 Lucifer is not always alone, but is 
 sometimes surrounded by demons, who 
 crouch with him at the feet of St. 
 Michael, before whom a company of 
 angels kneel in adoration. 
 
ARCHANGELS. 59 
 
 During the sixteenth century the pic- 
 tures of this archangel took on the miH- 
 tary aspect, to which I have referred, and 
 but for the wings would have represented 
 St. George, or a Crusader of the Cross, as 
 suitably as the great Warrior Angel. 
 
 An exquisite small picture of this type, 
 now in the Academy at Florence, was 
 painted by Fra Angelico. The lance and 
 shield and the lambent flame above the 
 brow are the only emblems ; the latter 
 symbolizing spiritual fervor. The rain- 
 bow-tinted wings are raised and fully 
 spread, meeting above and behind the 
 head ; the armor is of a rich dark red and 
 gold. The pose and the expression of the 
 countenance indicate the reserved power 
 and the godlike tranquillity of the celes- 
 tial warrior, and fitly represent him as the 
 patron of the Church Militant. 
 
 The representations of St. Michael con- 
 quering Lucifer are so numerous and so 
 
6o ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 interesting technically, that any adequate 
 account of them and of their artistic and 
 theological development would fill a vol- 
 ume, and might be considered rather tire- 
 some. I shall speak especially of two ex- 
 amples which are very generally accepted 
 as the most satisfactory of them all. 
 
 The first, painted by Raphael when at 
 his best, is in the Louvre. It was a com- 
 mission from Lorenzo dei Medici, who 
 presented it to Francis I. The subject 
 was doubtless chosen by Raphael as a 
 compliment to the sovereign, who was the 
 Grand Master of the Order of St. Michael, 
 the military patron saint of France. 
 
 It was painted on wood, and sent with 
 three other pictures, packed on mules, to 
 Fontainebleau, where Lorenzo was visit- 
 ing, in May, 1518. The picture was 
 somewhat injured on the journey. In 
 1773 it was transferred to canvas, and 
 " restored " three years later, but at the 
 
ARCHANGELS. 6 1 
 
 beginning of this century the restorations 
 were removed. We must believe that the 
 picture has suffered from these chances 
 and changes, but the fact remains that it 
 is still a glorious work by a great master. 
 
 The beautiful young angel does not 
 stand upon the fiend beneath him, but, 
 poised in air, he lightly touches with his 
 foot the shoulder of the demon in vulgar 
 human form, fiery in color, having horns 
 and a serpent's tail. The expression of 
 the angel is serious, calm, majestic, as 
 he gazes down upon the writhing Satan, 
 whose face, as he struggles to raise it, is 
 full of malignant hate. This detail is lost 
 in the black and white reproductions. 
 
 Michael grasps the lance with both 
 hands, and so natural is the action, so 
 easy and graceful, that the beholder in- 
 stinctively waits to see the weapon do 
 its work, while flames rise from the earth 
 as if impatient to engulf the disgusting 
 
62 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 demon. The head of the angel, with its 
 light, floating hair is against the back- 
 ground of the brilliant wings, in which 
 blue, gold, and purple are gloriously min- 
 gled ; his armor is gold and silver ; a 
 sword hangs by his side, and an azure 
 scarf floats from his shoulders. His legs 
 are bare, and his feet shod with buskins, 
 which leave the toes uncovered. The 
 contrast between the exquisite, angelic 
 flesh tints, rosy in hue, and the brown 
 coloring of the demon, effectively empha- 
 sizes the beauty of purity and the loath- 
 someness of evil. 
 
 The St. Michael of Guido Reni so 
 closely resembles that of Raphael in gen- 
 eral treatment, that it is more nearly just 
 to compare these works than is usually the 
 case with pictures of the same subject by 
 different masters. The attitude of Guido's 
 saint is like that of a dancing-master when 
 contrasted with the pose of Raphael's, 
 
( n luo Rf.xi. — 1'hf. Arciiaxi,i;l MiriiAiiL o\i:Ri'n\v- 
 
 KKIXG SATAX. 
 
ARCHANGELS. 65 
 
 and his demon is simply low and base, 
 devoid of malignity or any supreme evil. 
 
 But the head and face of Guide's 
 Michael make his picture wonderful ; 
 they adequately express divine purity 
 and beauty, while the studied and ficti- 
 tious qualities of Guido's art — here at 
 their best — serve to enhance the exqui- 
 site effect of this angelic warrior, and 
 the picture is justly esteemed as one of 
 the treasures of the Cappucini at Rome. 
 
 Outside of Italian art, the St. Michael 
 of Martin Schoen is well worth notice. 
 The figure is fully draped in a long, 
 flowing robe and mantle ; the pose is 
 most graceful, and the bearing of the 
 angel dignified and unruffled. The de- 
 mon is made up of fins, a savage mouth, 
 and numerous claws with which to seize 
 its victims; an entirely emblematic and 
 most repulsive figure. 
 
 There are occasional pictures of the 
 
66 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 " Fall of the Angels," in which St. Mi- 
 chael contends against the entire com- 
 pany of rebellious spirits. These are illus- 
 trative of the text, " When Michael and his 
 angels fought against the dragon, and 
 the dragon fought and his angels, and 
 the great dragon was cast out." 
 
 The painting of such a picture at 
 Arezzo, about 1400, caused the death 
 of Spinello d' Arezzo, whose mind so 
 dwelt upon the demons he had painted 
 that he went mad, and fancied that Luci- 
 fer appeared to him, and cursed him for 
 having represented the fiend and his 
 angels in so revolting a manner. The 
 horror of the artist induced a fever of 
 which he died. 
 
 The smaller of the two pictures of this 
 subject by Rubens, in Munich, is esteemed 
 a miracle of art. It displays the inventive 
 power of the great Flemish master in a 
 wonderful tour de force, for the rebel 
 
ARCHANGELS. 67 
 
 angels are not fallen, but falling, and 
 tumbling headlong out of heaven, down, 
 down, — in such confusion and affright 
 as only Rubens could portray. 
 
 In some cases Raphael and Gabriel are 
 represented as witnesses of the combat 
 between Michael and Lucifer. To my 
 taste, these figures, with their abundant 
 white draperies, detract from the sim- 
 plicity and dignity of this impressive 
 scene. Not only these archangels, but 
 apostles and saints are sometimes intro- 
 duced, in spite of the evident anachro- 
 nism., as observers of this great spiritual 
 struggle, while hosts of angels are above 
 and around the picture. 
 
 In short, the representations of this 
 subject, in one form and another, are 
 almost numberless, and can scarcely be 
 too many, when they are regarded as 
 embodying the great truth of the spir- 
 itual triumph over evil. 
 
68 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Mrs. Jameson says : " This is the secret 
 of its perpetual repetition, and this the 
 secret of the untired complacency with 
 which we regard it . . . and if to this 
 primal moral significance be added all 
 the charm of poetry, grace, animated 
 movement, which human genius has lav- 
 ished on this ever-blessed, ever-welcome 
 symbol, then, as we look up at it, we 
 are ' not only touched, but wakened and 
 inspired,' and the whole delighted imagi- 
 nation glows with faith and hope, and 
 grateful triumphant sympathy, — so, at 
 least, I have felt, and I must believe that 
 others have felt it, too." 
 
 The representations of St. Michael as 
 the Lord of Souls are less numerous than 
 those of the subjects just mentioned, but 
 are very interesting. In some votive pic- 
 tures he appears as the protector of those 
 who have struggled with evil, and gained 
 a victory. In such pictures the angel 
 
ARCHANGELS. 69 
 
 has his foot upon the dragon, or holds 
 a dragon's head in his hand, and bears 
 the banner of victory. 
 
 Again, Michael is represented with his 
 scales engaged in weighing the souls of 
 the dead ; in such pictures he is un- 
 armed, and bears a sceptre ending in a 
 cross. The souls are typified by little 
 naked human figures ; the accepted spirits 
 usually kneel in the scales, with hands 
 clasped as in prayer; the attitude of the 
 rejected souls expresses horror and agony, 
 which is sometimes emphasized by the 
 figure of a demon, impatient for his prey, 
 who reaches out his talons, or his devil's 
 fork, to seize the doomed spirits. 
 
 Leonardo da Vinci represented the 
 angel as presenting the balance to the 
 Infant Jesus, who has the air of blessing 
 the pious soul in the upper scale. Signo- 
 relli, about 1500, painted a picture of 
 this subject, which is in the church of San 
 
70 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Gregorio at Rome, in which the arch- 
 angel, in a suit of mail, stands with his 
 wings spread out, and the balance with 
 full scales held above a fierce, open- 
 mouthed dragon. The lance of the 
 archangel has pierced through the under 
 jaw of the beast and entered his body, 
 making an ugly wound, and a hideous 
 little demon, resting on his tiny black 
 wings, is clutching the condemned spirits 
 in the lower scale. 
 
 In pictures of the Assumption or Glori- 
 fication of the Virgin, if St. Michael is 
 present, it is in his office of Lord of Souls, 
 as the legends of the Madonna teach that 
 he received her spirit, and guarded it 
 until it was again united with her sin- 
 less form. 
 
 As Lord of Souls it is taught that St. 
 Michael conducted the spirits of the just 
 to heaven, and even cared for their bodies 
 in some instances. The legend of St. 
 
J 
 < 
 
 'J 
 
ARCHANGELS. 73 
 
 Catherine of Alexandria teaches that her 
 body was borne by angels over the desert 
 and sea to the top of Mount Sinai, where 
 it was buried ; and later a monastery was 
 built over her sepulchre. In the picture 
 of the " Translation of St. Catherine," 
 which we give, St. Michael is one of 
 the four celestial bearers of the martyr 
 saint. 
 
 In rare instances St. Michael was rep- 
 resented without wings. Such a figure 
 standing on a dragon is a St. George, 
 unless the balance is introduced. When 
 the archangel stands upon the dragon 
 with the balance in his hand, he appears 
 in his double office as Conqueror of 
 Satan and Lord of Souls. Memorial 
 chapels and tombs were frequently dec- 
 orated with this subject, a notable in- 
 stance being that on the tomb of Henry 
 VII., in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 In pictures of the Last Judgment, St. 
 
74 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Michael is sometimes seen in the very 
 act of weighing souls, and, although I 
 have nowhere found this explanation, it 
 has seemed to me that the souls being 
 thus weighed at the last hour should 
 symbolize those of whom St. Paul said, 
 " We shall not all sleep, but we shall all 
 be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling 
 of an eye, at the last trump: for the 
 trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall 
 be raised incorruptible, and we shall be 
 changed." 
 
 Since the Archangel Michael was made 
 the guardian of the Hebrew nation, he 
 was naturally an important actor in many 
 scenes connected with their history. It 
 was he who succored Hagar in the wil- 
 derness (Genesis xxi., 17), who appeared to 
 restrain Abraham from the sacrifice of 
 Isaac (Genesis xxii., 11). He brought the 
 plagues on Egypt and led the Israelites on 
 their journey. The Jews and early Chris- 
 
ARCHANGELS. 75 
 
 tians believed that God spake through the 
 mouth of Michael in the Burning Bush, 
 and by him sent the law to Moses on 
 Mount Sinai. When Satan would have 
 entered the body of Moses, in order to 
 personate the prophet and deceive the 
 Jews, it was Michael who contended with 
 the Evil One, and buried the body in an 
 unknown place, as is distinctly stated by 
 Jude. Signorelli chose this as the subject 
 of one of his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, 
 and I have seen no other representation 
 of it, although I believe that a few others 
 exist. 
 
 It was Michael who put blessings instead 
 of curses into Balaam's mouth (Numbers 
 xxii., 35), who was with Joshua in the 
 plain of Jericho (Joshua v., 13), who 
 appeared to Gideon (Judges vi., 2), and 
 delivered the three faithful Jews from the 
 fiery furnace (Daniel iii., 25). This last 
 subject is one of the earliest in Christian 
 
76 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 art, and was a symbol of the redemption 
 of man by Jesus Christ. There are still 
 other like offices which St. Michael filled 
 as the protector of the Jews, while several 
 important works are attributed to him in 
 the Apochrypha and in the Legends of 
 the Church. 
 
 For example, in the apochryphal story 
 of Bel and the Dragon, it is related that 
 when King Cyrus had thrown the prophet 
 Daniel into the lions' den, and he had been 
 six days without food, the angel of the 
 Lord appeared to the prophet Habakkuk 
 in Jewry, when he had prepared a mess of 
 potage for the reapers in his field, and the 
 angel commanded Habakkuk to carry the 
 potage to Babylon and give it to Daniel. 
 
 " Then Habakkuk said, ' Lord, I never 
 saw Babylon ; neither do I know where 
 the den is.' Then the angel of the Lord 
 took Habakkuk by the hair of his head, 
 and set him in Babylon over the lions' 
 
ARCHANGELS. ']'] 
 
 den ; and Habakkuk cried, saying, ' O 
 Daniel, Daniel, take the dinner which God 
 hath sent thee,' — and the angel again set 
 Habakkuk in his own place." 
 
 At one period this subject was repre- 
 sented on sarcophagi; but I have only 
 seen it in prints after the Flemish artist, 
 Hemshirk. 
 
 In the legends of St. Michael we read 
 that in the sixth century, when the plague 
 was raging in Rome, and processions 
 threaded the streets chanting the service 
 since known as the Great Litanies, the 
 Archangel Michael appeared, hovering 
 over the city. He alighted on the summit 
 of the Mausoleum of Hadrian and sheathed 
 his sword, from which blood was dripping. 
 From that hour the plague was stayed, and 
 from that day the Mausoleum, which is 
 surmounted by a statue of the Archangel, 
 has been called the Castle of Sant' Angelo. 
 
 The legends also give an account of two 
 
78 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 appearances of St. Michael when he com- 
 manded the erection of churches; one at 
 Monte Galgano, on the east coast of Italy, 
 and the second at Avranches in Normandy. 
 The first site was found to cover a won- 
 derful stream of water, which cured many 
 diseases, and made the church of Monte 
 Galgano a much frequented place of 
 pilgrimage. 
 
 The church in Normandy is on the 
 celebrated Mont Saint Michael, and is 
 famous in all Christian countries. From 
 the time when the angel appeared to St. 
 Aubert, the bishop, and commanded him 
 to build the church, this saint was greatly 
 venerated in France, and was made patron 
 of France and of the order which St. 
 Louis instituted in his honor. 
 
 The first church erected here was 
 small, but Richard of Normandy and 
 William the Conquerer raised a magnifi- 
 cent abbey, which overlooked the most 
 
ARCHANGELS. 8 1 
 
 picturesque scenery, and for this reason, 
 if no other, remains a much frequented 
 spot. 
 
 The old EngHsh coin called an angel 
 was so named from the representation of 
 St. Michael which was stamped upon it. 
 
 The pictures of St. Michael announc- 
 ing to the Virgin Mary the time of her 
 death, bear so strong a resemblance to 
 those of the Annunciation, that it is nec- 
 essary to remember that these have the 
 symbols of a palm on a lighted taper in 
 the hand of the angel, instead of the lily 
 of the Archangel Gabriel, as is seen in 
 our illustration of a beautiful picture in 
 the Florentine Academy. 
 
 The legend relates that on a certain 
 day the heart of Mary was filled with an 
 inexpressible longing to see her Son, and 
 she wept sorely, when lo ! an angel clothed 
 in light appeared before her, saluting her, 
 and saying, " Hail, O Mary ! blessed by 
 
82 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Him who hath given salvation to Israel! 
 I bring thee here a branch of palm gath- 
 ered in paradise ; command that it be 
 carried before thy bier in the day of thy 
 death ; for in three days thy soul shall 
 leave thy body, and thou shalt enter into 
 paradise where thy Son awaits thy com- 
 ing." Mary answering, said : " If I have 
 found grace in thy sight tell me thy name, 
 and grant that the Apostles may be re- 
 united to me, that in their presence I may 
 give up my soul to God. Also, I pray 
 thee, that after death my soul may not 
 be affrighted by any spirit of darkness, 
 nor any evil angel be given power over 
 me." And the archangel replied : " My 
 name is the Great and Wonderful. Doubt 
 not that the Apostles shall be with thee 
 to-day, for he who transported the prophet 
 Habakkuk by the hair of his head to the 
 lions' den, can also bring hither the Apos- 
 tles. Fear thou not the evil spirit, for 
 
ARCHANGELS. 83 
 
 thou hast bruised his head, and destroyed 
 his kingdom." And the angel departed, 
 and the palm branch shed light from 
 every leaf and sparkled as the stars of 
 heaven. 
 
 And the duty of the archangel was 
 thus fulfilled until he should again appear 
 as Lord of Souls to receive the spirit of 
 the Virgin, to guard it until it should 
 again inhabit her sinless body. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. 
 
 J HE Archangel Gabriel is men- 
 tioned by name but twice in the 
 Old Testament. First in Dan- 
 iel viii., 1 6, when he explained the vision 
 which the prophet had seen, and again 
 in Daniel ix., 21, when Gabriel appeared 
 to Daniel to give him skill and under- 
 standing. 
 
 Likewise in the New Testament he is 
 twice mentioned, in Luke i., 19 and 26, 
 when he announced to Zacharias the birth 
 of John the Baptist, and to the Virgin 
 Mary that she was favored of the Lord, 
 and blessed among women. On each of 
 these occasions he filled the office of a 
 
THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. 85 
 
 messenger or bearer of important tidings. 
 It is believed to have been Gabriel who 
 fought with the Angel of the Kingdom 
 of Persia for twenty-one days, when 
 Michael came to his relief, and Gabriel 
 again visited Daniel to strengthen him, 
 and explain " that which is noted in the 
 scripture of truth," and to announce that 
 the king of Grascia should overcome the 
 king of Persia. After which Gabriel re- 
 turned to his battle with the Angel of 
 Persia. 
 
 The contest with the angel of Persia is 
 a subject which offers unusual opportu- 
 nities in its artistic representation ; it is, 
 however, much the same in spirit as the 
 struggle between Michael and Lucifer, 
 and the preference was given to the latter 
 by the painters of religious subjects. 
 
 St. Gabriel has been many times por- 
 trayed as the messenger announcing the 
 birth of John the Baptist and that of 
 
86 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Jesus Christ. In the apochryphal legends 
 he also foretells the birth of Samson, and 
 that of the Virgin Mary. From these fre- 
 quently repeated messages which foretold 
 important births, Gabriel naturally came 
 to be regarded as the angel who presides 
 over childbirth. 
 
 The great number of representations of 
 the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary 
 make it difificult to select those of which 
 to speak. The earliest pictures of this 
 event portray it with great simplicity, 
 purity, and grace. A spiritual mystery is 
 being depicted, and is handled with sin- 
 cere reverence and the utmost delicacy. 
 
 The scene is usually the portico of an 
 ecclesiastical edifice. When seated, the 
 Virgin is on a species of throne, but she 
 is more frequently represented as stand- 
 ing. The archangel is at some distance 
 from her, not infrequently quite outside 
 the porch. He is majestic and beautiful ; 
 
THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. 87 
 
 is clothed in white, wearing the tunic and 
 pallium, or archbishop's mantle. His 
 wings are large, and brilliant with many 
 colors, and his abundant hair is bound 
 with a jewelled tiara. He bears either 
 the sceptre of power or a lily in one 
 hand, while the other is extended in ben- 
 ediction. Sometimes he holds a scroll 
 inscribed with the words, " Ave Maria, 
 gratia plena," Hail! Mary, full of grace, 
 which words Dante represents Gabriel as 
 constantly repeating in paradise. 
 
 The angel is the chief figure in this 
 scene in the earlier pictures; he is joy- 
 fully triumphant, announcing the coming 
 of the Saviour, while the Virgin is all 
 humility and submission ; in some cases 
 her head is covered, an extreme expres- 
 sion of lowliness, and she is always self- 
 effacing in attitude and expression. 
 
 An early cust6m in churches was to 
 place the picture of the Virgin on one 
 
88 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 side of the altar, and that of the angel 
 on the other side ; or, if both figures 
 were in the same frame, a division was 
 made by an architectural pillar, or a con- 
 ventional ornament between them. In 
 many cases the Virgin and the Archangel 
 were placed separately above, or on each 
 side of some scene from the life of Jesus, 
 usually an altar piece. The picture by 
 Fra Filippo Lippi, which we give, is a 
 very fine example of the so-called "di- 
 vided Annunciations." It is in the Flor- 
 entine Academy. This picture is very 
 beautiful, and fittingly expresses the hu- 
 mility and surprise of the Virgin and the 
 reverence of the heavenly messenger. It 
 is also a good example of Fra Filippo's 
 style ; his draperies were graceful, abun- 
 dant, and usually much ornamented with 
 designs in gold, of which we have here 
 enough for elegance, while it is not over- 
 done as in other works of this artist. 
 
Fka Fir.iPi^o LiHi'i. — A uixidkd Axn"U.\( iatiox. 
 
THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. 9 1 
 
 A very ancient Annunciation, of pecul- 
 iar and elaborate arrangement, dating 
 from the fifth century, is in mosaic, over 
 the arch in front of the choir in the 
 church of Santa Maria Maggiore, in 
 Rome. The classical treatment of the 
 dresses, and of the entire composition, 
 makes this work so different from the 
 usual conception of the subject as to be 
 worthy of observation. There are two 
 scenes : in the first, the archangel is sent 
 on his mission, and is rapidly flying 
 towards the earth, as if in haste to utter 
 his joyous salutation, " Hail ! thou art 
 highly favored ! Blessed art thou among 
 women ! " 
 
 The second scene presents Gabriel 
 standing before the Virgin, who is seated 
 on a throne, behind which are two guard- 
 ian angels. This representation is so ut- 
 terly unlike what is known as Christian 
 art as to make a lasting impression, by 
 
92 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 reason of its classical treatment; all the 
 details have an air of belonging to an 
 earlier period than that known as mediae- 
 val, and the figures might be those of 
 ancient Greeks. 
 
 It is extremely curious and interesting 
 to observe the various methods of repre- 
 senting the Archangel Gabriel in pictures 
 of the Annunciation. At times he might 
 be mistaken for the ambassador of a 
 proud and powerful earthly potentate. 
 He is clothed in gorgeous raiment, with 
 a rich train, sometimes borne by one, and 
 again by three page-like angels, while he 
 carries himself with majestic haughtiness. 
 
 We do not wonder that the difference 
 between the estate of an archangel sent 
 by God, and the humility of the Virgin of 
 Galilee, should have misled some artists ; 
 or that with them the angel held the first 
 place, especially as it was only thus that 
 any element of splendor could be intro- 
 
THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. 93 
 
 duced into their pictures. Indeed, we 
 have engravings after a picture by Ra- 
 phael, in which the Virgin is kneeHng 
 before the angel, who raises the right 
 hand in benediction. 
 
 But the gradual increase in the venera- 
 tion accorded to the Virgin, and the titles 
 of Queen of Heaven, and Queen of An- 
 gels, which were bestowed on her, soon 
 changed the spirit of the representations 
 of the Annunciation; and while the Vir- 
 gin loses none of her humility and sub- 
 mission, the angel bows, and even kneels 
 to her, thus emphasizing his acknowl- 
 edgment of her superior holiness, — 
 since an archangel could only kneel 
 before spiritual perfection. 
 
 It was well that the patriarchs and 
 prophets should acknowledge the superi- 
 ority of the angels sent to them, — but 
 the glory of the Mother of Christ should 
 be represented as commanding the rever- 
 
94 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 ence of even the highest of created beings 
 — only thus could the faith of the Church, 
 for which these religious pictures were 
 painted, be fittingly illustrated. 
 
 Thus it became customary to omit the 
 sceptre in the hand of the angel, and to 
 give him the lily alone, or the lily and the 
 scroll. Indeed, there are notable pictures 
 in which Gabriel has no symbol, but with 
 hands clasped over his breast, and head 
 inclined, he seems to worship the Virgin 
 while declaring his mission to her. There 
 are, however, few Annunciations in which 
 the lily does not appear. It is the special 
 symbol of the purity of Mary, to whom is 
 applied the verse from the Song of Solo- 
 mon : " I am the rose of Sharon, and the 
 lily of the valleys." In some pictures the 
 lily is seen in a vase near the Virgin. 
 
 Occasionally the symbol of peace is in- 
 troduced in pictures of the Annunciation 
 by placing a crown of olive on the head 
 
Alf.ssaxuro Allori. — Tiiii Annunciation. 
 
THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. 97 
 
 of the archangel, or an olive branch in 
 his hand. Here Gabriel is presented as 
 announcing the " Peace on earth and 
 good will towards men," which Raphael 
 and his attendant angels chanted to the 
 shepherds on the birth of Jesus. 
 
 The early German painters were fond 
 of picturing Gabriel in priestly robes, 
 heavily embroidered, and rich in color. 
 This dress supplied the same gorgeous 
 effect as was given by the princely trains 
 of which I have spoken. In these pic- 
 tures Gabriel usually kneels, — his ample 
 robes falling on the pavement around him, 
 — thus avoiding the proud bearing of the 
 regally vestured messenger. 
 
 The simplicity of the scene, when 
 Gabriel is appropriately draped in the 
 filmy white robe, — which is the usual 
 conception of an angel's dress, — is far 
 more satisfactory and harmonious with 
 the spirit of the miraculous Annuncia- 
 
98 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 tion than any splendid vestments can 
 possibly be. 
 
 The earliest pictures of the Annuncia- 
 tion, however, in spite of unsuitable 
 costumes, and of certain technical imper- 
 fections, are more acceptable to the rev- 
 erent mind than are those of a later time, 
 in which the angel is scantily draped and 
 is apparently conscious of his physical 
 beauty, while the Virgin is entirely want- 
 ing in grace or dignity. Such a rendering 
 of this scene is most offensive; all the 
 more so that these pictures are frequently 
 well executed, and were they not presented 
 as representations of this sacred subject, 
 but given some appropriate title, they 
 would have claims to a certain artistic 
 approbation. 
 
 Other artists, like AUori, in our illus- 
 tration, represent an all too conscious 
 Virgin, an angel who apparently poses 
 for a picture, and a mass of utterly 
 
THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. 99 
 
 inappropriate detail. This Annuncia- 
 tion, which is in the Florentine Acad- 
 emy, affords an excellent example of 
 this objectionable style, and its faults 
 are emphasized when it is compared 
 with the serious dignity of Fra Filippo's 
 picture and that which follows, by Fra 
 Angelico. By such comparisons the 
 great difference between true sentiment 
 and affectation in Art becomes apparent. 
 
 There are some Annunciations in which 
 the Virgin is represented as starting up 
 from fear or surprise, quite as one might 
 fancy that a tragedy queen would do, were 
 her privacy unceremoniously disturbed. 
 
 Again the Virgin Mary is fainting from 
 emotion, and thus could not have replied 
 to the angel in the Scriptural words, "Be- 
 hold the handmaid of the Lord ; be it 
 unto me according to thy word." 
 
 Not infrequently, in representations of 
 this scene, the Holy Spirit, as a dove. 
 
lOO ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 hovers above or near the Virgin, or flies 
 in through a window ; again the Almighty 
 is seen in the clouds, surrounded by a 
 celestial light, and sometimes attended by 
 celestial spirits. In rare instances the Eter- 
 nal Father sends the Infant Jesus down 
 from the sky bearing a cross, and preceded 
 by a dove. These extremely symbolic 
 Annunciations are usually of an early date. 
 Fra Angelico painted the Annuncia- 
 tion with intense reverence and simplic- 
 ity. We have an illustration of his 
 fresco on the wall of the corridor in 
 his convent of San Marco, in Florence, 
 which is, to my mind, one of the most 
 beautiful and spiritual Annunciations in 
 existence. It tells the sacred story faith- 
 fully; there is nothing introduced that 
 does not essentially belong here. The 
 Virgin gives the impression of being 
 equal to the angel in purity and good- 
 ness ; he is superior only in knowledge. 
 
z 
 
THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL. IO3 
 
 Angelico believed that he was divinely- 
 directed in his work, which he began with 
 prayer, and for this reason he would never 
 change his original design. His care in 
 the finish of his pictures was phenomenal; 
 his draperies were dignified ; his color 
 and composition were harmonious. It has 
 well been said of his works : " Every part 
 contributed to that unity of tenderness, 
 inspiration, and religious feeling which 
 marks his pictures, and which are such 
 as no one man had ever succeeded in 
 accomplishing." Angelico knew nothing 
 of human anxieties and struggles, and 
 could not paint them ; he could not de- 
 pict the hatred of the enemies of Christ ; 
 martyrdoms and persecutions were feebly 
 represented by him, but to annunciations, 
 coronations of the Virgin, and kindred 
 subjects he imparted a sweetness and a 
 spiritual fervor that has rarely, if ever, been 
 surpassed. We can imagine him rising 
 
I04 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 from his prayers with his conceptions of 
 the Virgin and the archangel as distinct in 
 his mind's eye as they are to our vision 
 in his pictures, and it is easy to under- 
 stand that the man who Hved in his 
 atmosphere would be void of ambition, 
 and refuse to be made Archbishop of 
 Florence, as he did. 
 
 Gabriel is reverenced by the Jews as 
 the chief of the angelic guards, and the 
 keeper of the celestial treasury. The 
 Mohammedans regard him as their patron 
 saint ; their prophet believed this arch- 
 angel to be his inspiring and instruct- 
 ing spirit. Thus he is important in the 
 faith and legends of Christians, Jews, and 
 Mohammedans alike. Milton may have 
 had the Jewish tradition in mind when 
 he represented Gabriel as the guardian 
 of paradise : 
 
 " Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat, 
 Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. 
 
 REPRESENTATIONS OF THREE, AND OF FOUR 
 ARCHANGELS. 
 
 |HE Archangel Raphael is es- 
 teemed as the guardian angel 
 of the human race. He espe- 
 cially protects the young and innocent, 
 and guards pilgrims and travellers from 
 harm. It was he who warned Adam of 
 the danger of sin, and declared to him 
 its dread consequences. Milton thus 
 interprets the message: 
 
 " Be strong, live happy, and love ! but first of all 
 Him, whom to love is to obey, and keep 
 His great command ; take heed lest passion sway 
 Thy judgment to do aught, which else free-will 
 105 
 
I06 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Would not admit ; thine, and of all thy sons 
 The weal or woe in thee is placed ; beware ! " 
 
 That Raphael's language was benev- 
 olent and sympathetic, as imagined by 
 the poet, appears in Adam's farewell to 
 the angel: 
 
 " Since to part 
 Go, heavenly guest, ethereal messenger. 
 Sent from whose sovereign goodness I adore ! 
 Gentle to me, and affable hath been 
 Thy condescension, and shall be honor'd ever 
 With grateful memory. Thou to mankind 
 Be good and friendly still, and oft return 1 " 
 
 Representations of St. Raphael are far 
 less numerous than are those of St. 
 Michael and St. Gabriel. They are 
 always pleasing, and present him as a 
 benign, sympathetic, and companionable 
 friend to those whom he serves. His 
 symbol is habitually a pilgrim's staff ; as 
 a guardian he wears a sword, and has a 
 small casket or vase, containing the 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. I07 
 
 " fishy charm " against evil spirits. He 
 wears a pilgrim's dress, has sandals on 
 . his feet, and a pilgrim bottle or wallet 
 hangs from his belt. His flowing hair 
 is bound by a diadem, and his beautiful 
 face expresses the benevolence of his 
 character and mission. 
 
 Many chapels and some churches are 
 dedicated to the Archangel Raphael, as 
 the chief of celestial guardians, and in 
 these are numerous pictures commemo- 
 rating his benevolent deeds. The greater 
 part of the representations of this arch- 
 angel are so connected with the history 
 of Tobias, that it is necessary to know 
 his story, in order to enjoy or understand 
 these pictures. I will give this beautiful 
 Hebrew narrative as concisely as possible: 
 
 Tobit was a rich man, and just; and 
 he and his wife, Sara, were carried into 
 captivity by the Assyrians. He gave 
 alms to all his people, lived justly, and 
 
I08 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 ate not the bread of the Gentiles. His 
 misfortunes, however, increased; he had 
 but his wife and his son, Tobias, left to 
 him, when he became blind, and prayed 
 for death. 
 
 At the same time a man named 
 Raguel, who dwelt in Ecbatane, was af- 
 flicted with a daughter who was perse- 
 cuted by an evil spirit. She had married 
 seven husbands, and each one had been 
 killed by the fiend, as soon as he entered 
 the bridal chamber. The maiden was 
 accused of these murders, and, like Tobit, 
 she prayed for death. 
 
 God then sent the Archangel Raphael 
 to cure the blindness of Tobit, and take 
 away the reproach of the unhappy daugh- 
 ter of Raguel of Ecbatane. 
 
 At this time Tobit desired his son, 
 Tobias, to go to Gabael in Media to 
 receive ten talents, which Tobit had left 
 in trust with Gabael. Tobias asked, 
 
 « 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. IO9 
 
 " How can I receive the money, seeing 
 I know him not ? " Tobit gave Tobias 
 the handwriting, and bade him seek a 
 guide for his journey. Raphael then 
 offered to guide the young man, who 
 knew not ' that he spoke with an arch- 
 angel. Tobias led Raphael to his father, 
 and they agreed upon the wages the guide 
 should receive, and Tobit gave directions 
 concerning the journey, while he and 
 Sara, his wife, were greatly afflicted at 
 parting with Tobias. 
 
 At evening the travellers came to the 
 river Tigris, and when Tobias went to 
 bathe, a fish leapt out at him. Raphael 
 told the youth to take out the liver and 
 gall of the fish and preserve it carefully, 
 which being done, they roasted the fish 
 and ate it. When Tobias asked why he 
 should keep the liver and the gall, the 
 angel told him that the heart and liver 
 would cure a person vexed with an evil 
 
no ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 spirit, if a smoke from them was made 
 before the person; and the gall would 
 cure the blindness of one afflicted with 
 whiteness of the eyes. 
 
 In our illustration from the picture by 
 Andrea del Sarto, in the Belvedere, Vi- 
 enna, Tobias carries the fish, and it 
 appears to represent the moment when 
 Raphael is making his explanation of its 
 purpose. 
 
 As they proceeded Raphael said: 
 " Brother, to-day we shall lodge with Ra- 
 guel, who is thy cousin ; he hath but one 
 daughter, named Sara ; I will ask her as a 
 wife for thee : she belongs to thee by law, 
 and is fair and wise, and you can marry 
 her when we return." Then Tobias, who 
 knew the fate of the seven husbands, 
 was filled with fear lest he too should 
 die, and thus afflict his parents, who had 
 no other child. 
 
 But Raphael assured Tobias that Sara 
 
AXDKKA DF.L SAKld. TlIK AkCHAXGEL KAPHAliL 
 
 (_iixdu(;tixc; thi-: Viirx(, ToiiiAs. 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. II3 
 
 was the wife that the Lord intended for 
 him, and that when he entered the mar- 
 riage chamber the evil spirit would flee at 
 the smoke he should make with the liver 
 of the fish, and would never return. 
 When Tobias heard this he loved the 
 maiden, and his heart was effectually 
 joined to her. 
 
 When they came near Ecbatane, they 
 met Sara, and she led them to her par- 
 ents, who rejoiced to see them, and wept 
 when they heard of the blindness of 
 Tobit. While the servants of Raguel 
 prepared a supper, Tobias said to the 
 angel, " Speak of those things of which 
 thou didst talk, and let this business be 
 despatched." Then Raphael asked Ra- 
 guel to give Sara to Tobias ; but the 
 father was sore distressed, and told of the 
 death of the seven who had already mar- 
 ried her ; but as Sara belonged to Tobias 
 by the law of Moses, his request could not 
 
114 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 be denied, and before they did eat to- 
 gether, Raguel joined their hands, and 
 blessed them. 
 
 Then the marriage chamber was pre- 
 pared, and the maiden wept; but her 
 mother comforted her, and when Tobias 
 entered and made the smoke as the angel 
 had directed, the evil spirit fled. Tobias 
 and Sara knelt in thankfulness, and To- 
 bias prayed as Raphael had told him, 
 and Sara said, " Amen." 
 
 In the morning Raguel dug a grave, 
 for he wished to bury Tobias quickly, 
 that no one should know what had hap- 
 pened ; but when he sent to see if he 
 were dead, it was found that the young 
 husband was quietly sleeping. Then 
 there was great rejoicing, and a wedding 
 feast was made, which lasted fourteen 
 days. Meanwhile, Raphael went to Ga- 
 bael and received from him the ten tal- 
 ents, and when the feast ended, the angel 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. II5 
 
 conducted Tobias and Sara to Tobit, and 
 Raguel bestowed on Sara half his wealth. 
 
 As they approached Nineveh, Raphael 
 said to Tobias, " Let us haste before thy 
 wife, to prepare the house : and take thou 
 the gall of the fish." The mother of 
 Tobias was watching for his return, and 
 was greatly alarmed at his long absence. 
 When she saw him with his guide, and 
 the little dog which he had taken away, 
 she ran to Tobit with the news, and they 
 rejoiced greatly. Raphael now said to 
 Tobias, " I know that thy father will open 
 his eyes ; therefore anoint them with the 
 gall, and being pricked therewith, he shall 
 rub them, and the whiteness shall fall 
 away, and he shall see thee." And so 
 it was, and Tobit was blind no more, 
 and they all rejoiced and blessed God. 
 
 Then Tobias recounted all that had 
 happened, and his parents went out with 
 him to meet his wife, and her servants, 
 
Il6 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 and cattle, and all she had brought with 
 her. And the people were filled with 
 wonder to see that Tobit was blind no 
 more, and they rejoiced greatly with him 
 during seven days when he kept a feast. 
 
 Tobit bade his son to call his guide 
 and give him more than the wages that 
 had been named. And Tobias wished to 
 give the angel half of all he had brought 
 back with him, and Tobit said, " It is due 
 unto him." But when Raphael knew 
 their intentions he commanded them to 
 glorify God for all his goodness, and told 
 Tobit that his goodness and sorrows and 
 those of the daughter of Raguel had been 
 known in heaven, and God had sent him 
 to heal all these troubles ; and added, " I 
 am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, 
 which present the prayers of the saints, 
 and go in and out before the glory of the 
 Holy One." 
 
 Our illustration after the picture of 
 
Ckjva.n'XI UiLUKKTi. — Tiiii Archaxcel Raphael 
 
 KKFl'SlXli THE (~,IFTB OK ToilIAS. 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. 119 
 
 Giovanni Biliverti in the Pitti Gallery, 
 Florence, places before us the scene, 
 when, refusing reward, the Archangel 
 declared himself. The beauty of the 
 angel, the affectionate enthusiasm of 
 Tobias, and the sincere and reverent grat- 
 itude of the old Tobit are wonderfully 
 portrayed, while the young wife and the 
 aged mother in the background complete 
 the group of those who have been de- 
 livered from their sorrows by the mes- 
 senger of the Most High. 
 
 From the time when the angel left 
 them Tobit and Raguel prospered, and 
 after Tobit and Sara died, Tobias re- 
 moved to Ecbatane and inherited the 
 wealth of Raguel ; he lived with honor to 
 be an hundred and seven and twenty years 
 old, and to hear of the destruction of 
 Nineveh. 
 
 Milton thus refers to the story of 
 Tobias : 
 
I20 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 " The affable archangel 
 
 Raphael ; the sociable spirit that design'd 
 
 To travel with Tobias, and secured 
 
 His marriage with the seven times wedded maid." 
 
 Raphael is frequently represented with- 
 out wings when leading Tobias, who — in 
 order to emphasize the contrast between 
 an angel and a mortal — is made very 
 small, and is thus manifestly out of keep- 
 ing with the story. When the wings 
 appear there is no reason for dwarfing 
 Tobias, and the picture is far more satis- 
 factory. It is not difficult to discern that 
 if the story of Tobias is considered as 
 an allegory, the young man personates the 
 Christian, guided and guarded through 
 life by God's mercy. 
 
 There is, in Verona, in the Church of 
 St. Euphemia, a most impressive chapel 
 which was decorated with pictures illus- 
 trating the story of Tobias, by Carotto, a 
 pupil of Mantegna, who seems to have 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. 121 
 
 painted more in the manner of Leonardo' 
 than in that of his master. 
 
 Various incidents of the story are effect- 
 ively pictured, but the famous altar-piece, 
 the greatest work by Carotto, is the most 
 important of the number. It represents 
 the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and 
 Raphael, — three exquisite wingless fig- 
 ures, — the latter being in the centre, and 
 the only one having an aureole. He is 
 leading Tobias, and looking down at 
 the youth with an expression of tender- 
 ness. 
 
 St. Michael is on the right ; one hand 
 rests on his great sword, while with 
 the other he lifts his crimson robe. His 
 countenance, serious and indomitable in 
 expression, fitly indicates the character- 
 istics that his titles imply. He is the 
 Lord of Souls and the Angel of Judgment, 
 so far as human imagination can picture 
 so exalted a celestial being. 
 
122 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 St. Gabriel, on the left, holding a lily, 
 and gazing heavenward in adoration, is a 
 beautiful, angelic figure, far less powerful 
 than the other archangels, and quite in 
 harmony with his office. 
 
 The impression on my mind, made by 
 this picture, is that Gabriel realizes that 
 his blessed office has been fulfilled, his 
 active work is done, and adoration is 
 now his duty and his joy; but Michael 
 and Raphael have still their great missions 
 to perfect ; they are still battling against 
 evil, and guiding men in the paths of 
 righteousness. 
 
 Carotto was a native of Verona, and his 
 pictures are rarely seen elsewhere. His 
 color is warm and well blended, while 
 his drawing is severe'. It is said that he 
 was but twenty-five years old when he 
 decorated the Chapel of St. Raphael, 
 in 1495. He was of a quick wit, and 
 . when told that the legs of his angels were 
 
Sandro Botticelli. — The Archangel Raphael. 
 (From a Picture of Tobias a.\d the three Archangels.) 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. 1 25 
 
 too slender, he instantly replied, " Then 
 they will fly the easier." 
 
 A very famous and wonderful picture 
 of the three archangels with Tobias, by 
 Botticelli, is in the Academy of Florence. 
 The angels of this artist are frequently 
 criticised for a certain stiffness, but their 
 beautiful faces more than redeem any fault 
 in their figures, and have a sweetness and 
 depth of expression that appeals to the 
 heart and makes one forget less important 
 details. 
 
 A picture of St. Raphael leading 
 Tobias, in the Church of St. Marziale in 
 Venice, is said to be the earliest remain- 
 ing work by Titian. For this reason it is 
 most interesting, but it is certainly not so 
 beautiful as that of Carotto, nor as that of 
 Raphael, called the Madonna del Pesce, — 
 the Madonna of the Fish, — in the Madrid 
 Gallery, in which the master pictures the 
 archangel whose name he bore. 
 
126 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Of this last picture Passavant says, 
 " Here Christian poetry has found its 
 highest expression ; for it is poetry 
 which touches all nations the most 
 deeply, and beauty alone can give an 
 idea of divinity." 
 
 In the famous Madonna del Pesce, the 
 Virgin is seated on a throne with the 
 child; the young Tobias, holding a fish 
 in his hand, and led by the Archangel 
 Raphael, comes to implore Jesus to 
 cure his father's blindness. The Infant 
 Saviour looks at Tobias, while his hand 
 is on an open book which St. Jerome 
 holds before him; the symbolic lion 
 crouches at the feet of the saint. The 
 background of the picture is principally 
 formed by a curtain, but on the right a 
 small opening of sky is seen. 
 
 The whole picture is executed in the 
 best style of the artist's mature power, 
 while it is full of the fervent piety of his 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. I 27 
 
 earlier works. The Virgin is the ideal of 
 purity and loveliness ; the child is radiant 
 with divine beauty ; the angel is celestial 
 in his bearing and his countenance, while 
 the head of the reverend saint is grand 
 and noble in expression. 
 
 Raphael's Madonnas sometimes seem 
 to be but simple domestic women, gifted 
 with beauty; in them no trace of a mys- 
 tical or spiritual nature appears; but the 
 Madonna del Pesce, like the Madonna di 
 San Sisto, and the Madonna di Fuligno, 
 justifies the eulogy of Vasari, when he 
 says, " Raphael has shown all the beauty 
 which can be imagined in the expression 
 of a Virgin ; in the eyes there is modesty, 
 on the brow there shines honor, the nose 
 is of a very graceful character, the mouth 
 betokens sweetness and excellence." The 
 color of the Madonna del Pesce is admir- 
 ably clear and harmonious, even for this 
 great master. 
 
128 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 This Madonna was originally painted 
 for the Church of San Domenico Mag- 
 giore, at Naples, in which church a 
 chapel had been erected as an especial 
 place of worship for the numerous Nea- 
 politans who suffer from diseases of the 
 eye; it was not, however, permitted to 
 serve its intended purpose, and has had 
 an interesting history. 
 
 It is said that the Duke of Medina, 
 when Viceroy of Naples, took the pic- 
 ture from the Dominicans without the 
 consent of the government, and when 
 the prior complained to the Pope, 
 Medina had him escorted to the frontier 
 by fifty horsemen, and expelled from the 
 kingdom. In 1644 the Duke took the 
 Virgin with the Fish to Spain, and Philip 
 IV. placed it in the Escurial. In 18 13, 
 when the French were compelled to 
 leave Spain, they took this picture, with 
 many others, to Paris. 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. 1 29 
 
 It was painted on a panel and was in 
 bad condition, and Bonnemaison was 
 commissioned to transfer it to canvas. 
 This work was not completed in 1815, 
 when other pictures which had been 
 taken from Spain were returned, and this 
 Madonna remained in France until 1822. 
 Naturally, it must have lost something of 
 its original excellence, but it still holds a 
 place of honor in the wonderful Italian 
 Gallery of the Madrid Museum; it is a 
 rival of the famous Dresden Madonna — 
 di San Sisto — in the regard of many 
 connoisseurs in art. 
 
 The various scenes from the story of 
 Raphael and Tobias have been repre- 
 sented in the works of artists of all na- 
 tions. Rembrandt four times painted the 
 parting of Tobias from his father and 
 mother, and several other incidents in 
 the story. His picture in the Louvre, 
 of the departure of the Archangel, is 
 
130 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 remarkable for its spirited action. As 
 the angel ascends, flying through the 
 air, he seems to part the clouds as a 
 strong swimmer passes through the 
 breakers of the sea. 
 
 There have been many curious con- 
 ceits introduced into some of the early 
 religious pictures, and I have seen two 
 instances in which little seraphim and 
 angels are perched on trees, near the 
 Virgin and Holy Child. The idea seems 
 to be that these " Birds of God " — as 
 Dante calls the angels — are making 
 music and singing for the Divine In- 
 fant, some of them also praying for his 
 solace. 
 
 Occasionally a series of pictures called 
 the Acts of the Holy Angels has been 
 painted. It consists of eleven strictly 
 Scriptural subjects, usually as follows, 
 but varied in some instances by the in- 
 troduction of other motives of the same 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. I31 
 
 character, as, for example, the angel ap- 
 pearing to Hagar and to Elijah : 
 
 I. The Fall of Lucifer. 
 II. The Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the 
 Garden of Eden. 
 III. The Visit of Three Angels to Abraham. 
 IV. The Angel Preventing the Sacrifice of Isaac. 
 V. The Angel Wrestling with Jacob. 
 VI. Jacob's Dream. 
 VII. The Deliverance of the Three Children from 
 the Fiery Furnace. 
 VIII. The Angel Slays the Host of Sennacherib. 
 IX. The Angel Protects Tobias. 
 X. The Punishment of Heliodorus. 
 XI. The Annunciation to the Virgin. 
 
 I have already said that of the seven 
 
 archangels to whom Milton refers, when 
 
 he says : 
 
 " The Seven 
 Who in God's presence, nearest to his throne. 
 Stand ready at command," 
 
 but three are recognized by the Christian 
 Church ; and when three archangels are 
 
132 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 seen together, they are Michael, Gabriel, 
 and Raphael. In the Greek Church this 
 representation is regarded as typical of 
 the military, civil, and religious power, 
 and, accordingly, the costumes indicate 
 a soldier, a prince, and a priest. 
 
 But Uriel has not been entirely ignored, 
 even by the Christian Church, and an 
 early tradition teaches that this archangel, 
 and not Christ, accompanied the two dis- 
 ciples on their way to Emmaus. In the 
 book of Esdras we read, " The angel that 
 was sent unto me, whose name was 
 Uriel." His office was that of interpreter 
 of judgments and prophecies, which Mil- 
 ton recognizes thus : 
 
 " Uriel, for thou of those Seven Spirits that stand 
 In sight of God's high throne, gloriously bright, 
 The first art wont his great authentic will 
 Interpreter through highest heaven to bring." 
 
 In several ancient churches four arch- 
 angels are represented in the architectural 
 
THE ARCHANGEL RAPHAEL. 1 33 
 
 decoration. An example in which they 
 are very splendid is that in the mosaics 
 above the choir arch in the Cathedral of 
 Monreale, Palermo. These colossal, armed 
 figures are impressive, not only from their 
 size, but also because of their apparent 
 realization of their illustrious rank in the 
 order of created beings. 
 
 More frequently the four archangels are 
 so represented as to appear to sustain the 
 roof, or vault, in churches where the figure 
 of Christ, or his symbol, the Lamb, is pic- 
 tured as the central decoration. These are 
 clearly intended to personate the four "who 
 sustain the throne of God." Their sym- 
 bols are sceptres or lances ; at times they 
 stand erect, like faithful, watchful guar- 
 dians; again with arms outstretched they 
 seem to uphold the vault on which Christ 
 is portrayed. 
 
 The representations of three archangels 
 are more numerous than the above, and 
 
134 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 are variously treated. In some ancient 
 pictures they have no wings, and appear 
 like men of princely rank and noble char- 
 acter. I have seen the visitors of Abraham 
 thus represented, which accords with the 
 Hebrew idea of angels at the period when 
 Abraham was thus honored ; for, as I have 
 mentioned, it was not until after the cap- 
 tivity, when the Egyptian custom of giving 
 wings to their representations of messen- 
 gers had been observed, that the cherubim 
 and seraphim covered the mercy-seat with 
 their wings. 
 
 One of the best known and most beauti- 
 ful pictures of these angelic visitors is that 
 by Raphael in the fourth arcade of the 
 Loggie of the Vatican. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 GUARDIAN ANGELS, ANGEL CHORISTERS, AND 
 
 ADORING ANGELS DEMONS AND EVIL 
 
 SPIRITS. 
 
 'ROM the classification of the 
 angeHc hosts by the early theo- 
 logians, and the special duties 
 assigned to each class, we learn that the 
 word angels, as ordinarily used, refers to 
 archangels and angels only; these two 
 classes are associated with human life 
 in all its phases, while princedoms pro- 
 tect monarchies, thrones sustain the 
 throne of God, cherubs continually wor- 
 ship, and seraphs adore the Most High. 
 A belief in guardian angels — those 
 especially devoted to the care of indi- 
 
 135 
 
136 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 viduals — is far more widespread than 
 the reahsm of the present day is inchned 
 to admit. The godly man has a sure 
 warrant for this trust in the ninety-first 
 psalm : 
 
 " Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my 
 refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there 
 shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague 
 come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his 
 angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy 
 ways." 
 
 We cannot think of angels as a reality 
 in the winged, human forms that have 
 been given them in Art, any more than 
 we can look for mermaids to rise from 
 the waters mentioned in the charming 
 legends in which these maidens acted 
 their parts. These imaginary and ap- 
 parently palpable angels are but allego- 
 ries, which long have been and continue 
 to be the angels of Art, and we could not 
 willingly give them up. We know that 
 
Fra AxGEi.iLi), — A\(,F,r. Chokistkk^ 
 
GUARDIAN ANGELS. 1 39 
 
 they are impossible, even fantastic, if we 
 permit ourselves to be matter-of-fact; 
 but as emblems of spiritual guardians, 
 sent to mortals by an ever - watchful 
 Father, we love them ; and we wish to 
 believe in guardian angels for those who 
 are dear to us, even if we cannot realize 
 them for ourselves. 
 
 In one of the early councils of the 
 Church the form of angels was considered, 
 and it was maintained by John of Thes- 
 salonica that they were in shape like men, 
 and should be thus represented. This 
 decision is supported by the supposition 
 that God spoke to the angels when he 
 said, "Let us make man after our image;" 
 and again by Daniel, when he describes 
 his heavenly visitors as "like unto the 
 similitude of the sons of men." 
 
 A guardian angel must be ever beside 
 his charge from the beginning to the end 
 of life, not only to guard from evil, but 
 
140 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 also to incite to good. In sorrow he is a 
 comforter; in weakness, strength; even 
 in death he is faithful, and contends 
 against the evil spirits who fight for the 
 possession of every soul ; and after death 
 he bears the spirit to St. Michael, the 
 Lord of Souls. Thus is the guardian 
 angel represented in Art, as is seen in 
 our illustration called the Angel of Peace. 
 When we observe a beautiful, unselfish 
 life that rises far above its surroundings, 
 we recall the belief in angelic guardians, 
 and the description which Milton gave of 
 a chaste, saintly soul : 
 
 " A thousand liveried angels lackey her, 
 Driving far off each thing of sin and guilt ; 
 And in clear dream and solemn vision 
 Tell her of things that no gross ear can hear, 
 Till oft converse with heav'nly habitants 
 Begin to cast a beam on th' outward shape." 
 
 The impersonality of angels is one of 
 their most precious qualities. An angel 
 
Kal'lbach. — The Amgel of Peace. 
 
GUARDIAN ANGELS. I43 
 
 is never active except as the agent of the 
 Almighty, deputed to manifest his mercy 
 and love to the pious, or to inflict his 
 punishments on the wicked. Thus angels 
 must be perfect beings ; and while they 
 love to serve, their service is void of 
 the personality which is inherent in all 
 human service. When they sing to- 
 gether it is because some good has 
 come to men, and when they mourn it 
 is for human affliction. 
 
 According to the teaching of the Fath- 
 ers of the Church to which . we have 
 referred, the combat between good and 
 evil angels is unceasing, and they also 
 warrant Christians in invoking the aid 
 of angels, and believing them to be ever 
 near to prevent evil and encourage good. 
 From the views of the early theologians 
 the artists evolved their manner of rep- 
 resenting the hosts of heaven, and while 
 for a time angels were represented as 
 
144 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 colossal, gradually they became more 
 graceful and lovely, as well as more 
 human. 
 
 An ideal, a thought, must be personi- 
 fied to be represented to the eye, and I 
 doubt if any new personification of 
 angels could satisfactorily replace that 
 which has been developed in Art during 
 sixteen centuries, and to which we are 
 accustomed from our earliest childhood. 
 The angels that are known in pictures, 
 watching over children, preventing harm 
 to individuals, as in the sacrifice of Isaac, 
 encouraging or even compelling worthy 
 action, as in the case of Balaam, are dear 
 to the heart of the world. 
 
 The representations of guardian angels 
 in the more homely relations, watching 
 sleeping infants, guiding their feeble 
 steps, — as is seen in our frontispiece, — 
 and shielding them from accidents, are 
 modern. To the end of the sixteenth 
 
GUARDIAN ANGELS. 1 45 
 
 century guardian angels, while engaged 
 in all these minor duties, according to the 
 teaching of the Church, were only repre- 
 sented in Art as performing solemn and 
 superhuman deeds. 
 
 This may have resulted from the fixed 
 belief of the old artists in these angelic 
 beings, and their deep reverence for them, 
 while modern artists are simply seeking 
 a graceful and poetic subject. But, be 
 this as it may, the angels who perform 
 miracles to prevent the torture of Chris- 
 tian martyrs and other superhuman acts, 
 are as essentially guardian angels as are 
 those bending over cradles and gathering 
 blossoms for children in the fields. 
 
 After the guardians, the choristers, or 
 musical angels, most appeal to us. They 
 are beautiful in their representations, and 
 fulfil an ideal mission. Their hymns of 
 praise are not all devoted to the pure wor- 
 ship of the Almighty, — except as he is 
 
146 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 all and in all, — since they rejoice and 
 sing when blessings are conferred upon 
 mankind. 
 
 How exquisite is the story in the second 
 chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, when the 
 single angel announces the birth of Jesus 
 to the shepherds, " and suddenly there 
 was with the angel a multitude of the 
 heavenly host praising God, and saying, 
 ' Glory to God in the highest, and on 
 earth peace, good will toward men.' " In 
 the final sentences of this heavenly chant 
 we have the assurance that angels delight 
 to sing of happiness to mankind. 
 
 There is much that appeals to our 
 imagination in the thought of these 
 heavenly musicians. We fancy their 
 perfect instruments attuned to perfect 
 voices, creating such harmonies as no 
 earthly orchestra can reproduce. 
 
 " The harp, the solemn pipe 
 And dulcimer, all organs of sweet stop." 
 
pKRrGiNO. — Mlisical Angkls. 
 
GUARDIAN ANGELS. I49 
 
 In the early days of Christian Art, 
 painters and sculptors alike delighted in 
 the representation of musical angels, and 
 it is surprising to find in how many 
 scenes they are not only appropriate but 
 indispensable. Our illustration, after 
 Perugino, is from his picture of the 
 Assumption of the Virgin in the Flor- 
 entine Academy. 
 
 They are most fittingly present at the 
 coronations of Jesus and the Virgin ; they 
 gladly welcomed the just to heaven ; they 
 join in the hymn of St. Cecilia, which 
 they must have inspired ; they are always 
 in harmony with pictures of the Madonna 
 and child, and, in short, numerous as 
 are the representations of them, they are 
 never too many. 
 
 It would seem that certain sculptors 
 and painters must have seen these blessed 
 beings in visions, and listened to their 
 music, so wonderfully did they embody 
 
150 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 them in statues and on canvas. Delia 
 Robbia, Ghiberti, Fra Angelico, Ghir- 
 landajo, Melozzo da Forli, Vivarini, Gian 
 Bellini, Raphael, Palma, must all have 
 seen, at least with the eyes of the 
 spirit, the angelic choirs which make 
 so precious a part of their legacy to us. 
 
 The difference in the sentiments with 
 which these angelic choristers seem to 
 be inspired lends them a peculiar charm. 
 Now they are alone intent on solemnly 
 praising God ; again they seem full of such 
 overflowing joy as can only be expressed 
 in vocal harmonies, in symphonies with 
 viol, pipe, harp, and lute. Nowhere are 
 these angels more lovely than when, with 
 their sweet faces turned to the Infant 
 Jesus, they chant their love for him. 
 
 Cherubim and seraphim are technically 
 the adoring angels, as they are repre- 
 sented in pictures of God, the Father. 
 But adoring angels are frequently seen in 
 
GUARDIAN ANGELS. 151 
 
 pictures of the Madonna and Child, as 
 well as in scenes from the lives of Jesus 
 and the Virgin. Sometimes they appear 
 in great numbers, as in Angelico's picture 
 of the Last Judgment; or in smaller 
 groups, as the three adoring angels by 
 Francesco Granacci; or singly, as in the 
 case 'of the angel with bowed head, 
 who stands behind the Virgin in the 
 Madonna and Angels, by Boticelli ; the 
 last three pictures being among our 
 illustrations. 
 
 Mourning angels appear more fre- 
 quently in sculpture than in painting, and 
 are much used as monuments to the dead ; 
 but there are pictures in which angels 
 show their sympathy with sorrow and 
 suffering. While from their nature they 
 cannot be unhappy, they are not repre- 
 sented as joyful in pictures of the Cruci- 
 fixion and other sorrowful scenes in the 
 lives of Jesus, the Virgin, or saintly 
 
152 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 martyrs. They hide their faces, wring 
 their hands, and manifest their sympa- 
 thetic grief in various ways. I recall a 
 picture of a mourning angel kneeling 
 before a crown of thorns with tears upon 
 his face. 
 
 There are occasional pictures of kneel- 
 ing angels, who have the appearance of 
 praying. Artists have naturally mani- 
 fested their individuality in their works, 
 but I do not recall any Scripture warrant 
 for representing angels as themselves 
 praying, although they are present with 
 mortals who pray. It is, however, not in- 
 consistent with their mission to bear the 
 prayers of mortals to the throne of God 
 and to return with a blessing. 
 
 In the early centuries of the Church 
 there was a well-established belief that 
 wicked spirits had power over men and 
 tempted them to all manner of sins ; they 
 especially desired, it was taught, to lead 
 
Francesco ('.kanacci. — Angels tn Aixjration 
 
GUARDIAN ANGELS. 1 55 
 
 the pious to revolt against the true relig- 
 ion, and to become idolaters, as they had 
 themselves revolted against the Almighty. 
 It was also believed that good and evil 
 spirits constantly contended over every 
 human being, the struggle between angels 
 and demons being unending. 
 
 Devils are introduced in many pictures, 
 and are easily recognized by their demo- 
 niacal appearance. Frequently they are 
 very small and numerous. They are 
 represented as hovering above death-beds, 
 they rejoice in the persecution of the 
 martyrs, and wherever seen, are the very 
 personification of all that is repulsive and 
 loathsome. 
 
 The most important pictures in which 
 the devil is represented as a human being 
 are scenes in the temptation of Jesus, 
 when he was led into the wilderness to be 
 tempted forty days. Shakespeare says 
 that " the devil hath power to assume a 
 
156 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 pleasing shape," but apparently artists 
 have not recognized this. In their 
 pictures of him there is always some 
 characteristic which at once discloses his 
 personality. His skin is an ugly brown, 
 or the hoofs which he endeavors to hide 
 are disclosed, or the repulsive expression 
 of his face warns one of his dangerous 
 character. 
 
 Happily such pictures are not numerous, 
 but an ideal of the repulsiveness of the 
 Father of Lies has been conceived by 
 many from the famous repi^esentations of 
 him by Raphael and Guido, in their pic- 
 tures of his conquest by St. Michael. In 
 numerous cases, however, the presence 
 of Satan is indicated by symbols. The 
 dragon and the serpent are the usually 
 accepted emblems of the Evil Spirit, but 
 there are many variations of this sym- 
 bolism. A horrid dragon head with open 
 mouth typifies hell. Frequently the ser- 
 
GUARDIAN ANGELS. 1 57 
 
 pent has an apple in his mouth and thus 
 personates the wily tempter of Mother 
 Eve; but in many cases the serpent has 
 no relation to the fall of man, and is 
 personified evil. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PICTURES OF ANGELS AS AUTHORIZED 
 BY THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 JESIDES the representations of 
 angels in art in accordance with 
 the imagination of individual ar- 
 tists, there are two important classes of 
 angelic subjects, one of which rests upon 
 the authority of the Scriptures, and the 
 other upon that of the sacred legends. 
 A comprehensive treatment of these 
 works would require several volumes of 
 the size of this book; but I will here 
 give a suggestive outline of them. 
 
 The first mention of angels in the Old 
 Testament occurs in the third chapter of 
 
 Genesis, when it is related that cherubims 
 158 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 59 
 
 were placed at the east of the Garden of 
 Eden, to keep the way to the Tree of Life. 
 Good pictures of this subject are as rare 
 as they are beautiful. In them the ex- 
 quisite garden, the radiant cherubim, and 
 the dazzling light from the flaming sword, 
 combine in producing a glorious effect. 
 
 In connection with the story of Abra- 
 ham, angels frequently appear. The sac- 
 rifice of Isaac is always an interesting 
 subject, symbolizing, as it does, in the 
 submission of Isaac, that of Jesus, and 
 in the willingness of Abraham to give 
 his son in sacrifice, that of the Divine 
 Father to give his well-beloved Son for 
 the salvation of men. The appearance 
 of the angel to prevent the consumma- 
 tion of the sacrifice has been painted 
 many times, notably by Andrea del Sarto, 
 whose poetical pictures of this scene are 
 in the Dresden and Madrid galleries. 
 
 The picture by Rembrandt is powerful, 
 
l6o ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 and painfully realistic. It is in the Her- 
 mitage at St. Petersburg. The same 
 scene in the Church of Santa Maria 
 della Salute, Venice, is by Titian, and 
 is among the famous, works of this great 
 master. 
 
 Our illustration after a picture by II 
 Sodoma, in the Cathedral of Pisa, is in 
 the best style of that master, who has 
 been called the pride of the Sienese 
 school. His acknowledged power to 
 render intense feeling is seen in the 
 face of Abraham, while the angel is an 
 example of his conception of beauty; 
 the submissive Isaac, missing the pres- 
 sure of his father's hand from his 
 shoulder, without changing his position, 
 turns his eyes to discover the reason for 
 the delay of the expected blow. 
 
 In the story of Hagar an angel twice 
 appears, and one is surprised that these 
 charming subjects have so rarely been 
 
Ii, SiuKiMA. — The Sai rificr of Auraha.m. 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1-63 
 
 painted, while the more disagreeable ex- 
 pulsion of Hagar from the home of her 
 youth has been frequently represented ; 
 the picture of this scene by Guercino, 
 in the Brera at Milan, is famous, and 
 certainly tells the story of " Cast out the 
 bondwoman and her son " with direct- 
 ness ; but there is an element of vul- 
 garity in it that so detracts from its 
 good qualities as to make one wonder 
 that it could have been so much ad- 
 mired. 
 
 A far more tender subject is that which 
 pictures Hagar in the wilderness alone, 
 and repentant of her fault, for which 
 Sarah had chastened her; it is at this 
 moment that the angel appears and com- 
 mands her return to Abraham. A fine 
 example of this rare subject by Pietro 
 da Cortona is in the Belvedere, at Vienna. 
 Rubens also painted this scene. 
 
 A picture that is even more pathetic 
 
164 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 represents Hagar and Ishmael in the 
 wilderness of Beersheba. Ishmael is 
 fainting from thirst, and Hagar flings 
 herself to the ground with the prayer, 
 " Let me not see the death of the child," 
 when an angel appears to comfort her, 
 and guide her to a hidden spring. The 
 pathos of this scene must appeal to every 
 mother, and a picture of it by Rembrandt 
 is so fine that one can but regret that it 
 is not in a public collection. 
 
 The visit of the three angels to Abra- 
 ham is also a rare subject in Art. I have 
 already referred to that painted by Ra- 
 phael, in the Vatican. Murillo also rep- 
 resented it in a picture now in a private 
 gallery in England. In neither of these 
 pictures have the angels wings. 
 
 The three beautiful figures by Raphael, 
 however, are not like any men whom we 
 have seen ; they impress one as beings of 
 another and a far higher sphere than 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 65 
 
 ours. Murillo, on the contrary, shows 
 us three ordinary travellers, and but for 
 the title of the picture, we should not 
 suspect that these men were celestial 
 visitors. A large picture of this sub- 
 ject by Rembrandt is one of the treasures 
 of the Hermitage. 
 
 Jacob's dream, with the ascending and 
 descending angels, is an exquisite motive 
 for illustration, and has been variously 
 pictured. A single angel sometimes 
 watches the sleeper, as if to inspire his 
 dream and bring him a blessing ; again, 
 there are many angels, and again, but a 
 small number, who move here and there, 
 up and down, imparting a remarkable 
 effect of airy, graceful motion. The 
 ladder, too, is widely varied, being repre- 
 sented by one or several flights of steps, 
 ascending to the clouds. 
 
 In the sixth arcade of the Vatican log- 
 gie is Raphael's third and best representa- 
 
1 66 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 tion of this dream. Here Jacob's face is 
 turned towards the ladder, on which are 
 six angels; Jehovah appears above with 
 outstretched arms, and surrounded by a 
 glory. It is not one of the best of Ra- 
 phael's works, and, indeed, all representa- 
 tions of Jacob's dream that I have seen, 
 are, to my mind, insufficient when com- 
 pared with that of Rembrandt, in the 
 Dulwich gallery. This is a poem as 
 essentially as it is a picture. A stream 
 of dazzling light forms the ladder, up 
 and down which float mystic, radiant 
 angels. The whole impression is so like 
 a dream, so intangible, and yet so appar- 
 ent, that one wonders how Rembrandt, 
 who so often dwelt upon the all too solid ele- 
 ments of his motives, here caught the inner- 
 most spirit of this most spiritual subject. 
 
 " The Comforting of Elijah " is a sub- 
 ject with rare possibilities, but has been 
 seldom represented. 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 67 
 
 Rubens painted a picture of this scene 
 as symbolical of the Lord's Supper, the 
 angel presenting to Elijah the bread and 
 a chalice. Following a custom of some 
 landscape painters who introduced a sub- 
 ject — mythological, historical, or Scrip- 
 tural — into their pictures, Paul Potter 
 represented the " Comforting of Elijah " 
 in the foreground of one of his pictures. 
 It also occurs in some ancient illuminated 
 Bibles. 
 
 William Blak^s illustration of the text 
 in Job, " When the morning stars sang 
 together, and all the sons of God shouted 
 for joy," is famous for the unusual char- 
 acter of the angels. Like many pictures 
 by this poet, who was esteemed as half 
 mad, it has an element of other worldli- 
 ness which is rarely seen in works of his 
 era. Of this especial picture Mrs. 
 Jameson wrote: "His adoring angels 
 float rather than fly, and, with their half 
 
1 68 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 liquid draperies, seem about to dissolve 
 into light and love; and his rejoicing 
 angels — behold them — sending up their 
 voices with the morning stars, that, sing- 
 ing, in their glory, move." 
 
 The Vision of Ezekiel, in the Pitti Gal- 
 lery, in Florence, is, so far as I know, a 
 unique representation of this subject. 
 Raphael painted it for Count Ercolani in 
 Bologna. It is mentioned as early as 
 1589, in the Inventory of the Tribune, 
 and has been engraved and copied many 
 times. 
 
 Jehovah is represented seated in a 
 glory of cherubim's heads, which are 
 almost unnoticeable by reason of the 
 exceeding brightness illustrative of the 
 text, " And I saw as the color of amber, 
 as the appearance of fire round about 
 within it, from the appearance of his loins 
 even upward, and from the appearance 
 of his loins even downward. I saw as it 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 69 
 
 were the appearance of fire, and it had 
 brightness round about." In accordance 
 with this text also, Jehovah is nude in 
 the upper portion of the figure, the lower 
 portion being draped in purple. Near 
 the Jehovah are the four animals symbolic 
 of the evangelists, the cherub, the lion, 
 the ox, and the eagle, not earthly crea- 
 tions, but mysterious and spiritual as they 
 float along bearing the Messiah, while 
 two small angels are near with out- 
 stretched arms. 
 
 The sky effects of this wonderful pic- 
 ture are fine ; the gray clouds are rolling 
 away, as if for the purpose of disclosing 
 the vision. This picture has been criti- 
 cised on account of the nude figure of 
 Jehovah; it has been said to be a more 
 proper representation of Jupiter than of 
 the Almighty, but Raphael is justified 
 by the text itself. 
 
 Perhaps no representation exists which 
 
170 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 more acceptably renders the symbolic na- 
 ture of the Four Beasts than does this. 
 The exact imitation of nature, which ap- 
 peared later in works of Art, is entirely 
 opposed to the true meaning of these em- 
 blems, which was sacred and mystical. 
 The cherub t)q3ifies St. Matthew, because 
 his Gospel sets forth the human nature pf 
 Christ more forcibly than the divine. The 
 lion was appropriate to St. Mark, because 
 he first speaks of " the voice of one crying- 
 in the wilderness," typical of the lion. 
 The ox belongs to St. Luke, since he 
 dwells on the priesthood of Christ, the 
 ox symbolizing sacrifice ; the eagle to St. 
 John, as the emblem of his inspiration, 
 by which he wrote so sublimely of the 
 divinity of Jesus. 
 
 There are several other explanations of 
 these symbols which are so often seen in 
 works of Art. But in this especial picture 
 of the " Vision of Ezekiel," it would seem 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. I7I 
 
 as if the throne of the Son of Man is com- 
 posed of these mystic beasts, while the 
 angels are attending him, and gaze into 
 his face, as if watching for some service 
 to be rendered. 
 
 When the Four Beasts are so pictured 
 as to recall those who were full of eyes 
 within, and rest not day and night, say- 
 ing, " Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Al- 
 mighty " (Revelation iv., 7), they fulfil 
 the intention of the symbol of the early 
 Church, as it was understood by those to 
 whom it was sacred. But when, in the 
 hands of an irreligious and realistic artist, 
 they become " as the beasts of the field," 
 his work is but a travesty upon the mys- 
 terious religious symbols, which he thus 
 debases. 
 
 The New Testament gives us a clearer 
 idea of the nature and offices of angels 
 than we obtain from the Hebrew Scrip- 
 tures. We learn of their great numbers 
 
172 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 from the words of Jesus, " Thinkest thou 
 that I cannot now pray to my Father, 
 and he shall presently give me more than 
 twelve legions of angels ? " (Matthew xxvi., 
 53), and from Paul, when he speaks of the 
 " innumerable company of angels." In 
 the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke 
 we learn that they are superior to human 
 affections, and not subject to change. 
 " For in the resurrection they neither 
 marry, nor are given in marriage, but 
 are as the angels of God " (Matthew 
 xxii., 30). " Neither can they die any 
 more; for they are equal unto the an- 
 gels " (Luke XX., 36). By the words of 
 Jesus, however, we are assured of the 
 sympathy of angels in all that concerns 
 our spiritual good. In Luke xv., 10, 
 Jesus says, " Likewise I say unto you, 
 there is joy in the presence of the angels 
 of God over one sinner that repenteth." 
 The belief that angels bear the souls of 
 
yihAjtz/.n u\ Fmrli. — Ax Ax( 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 75 
 
 the redeemed to heaven, rests largely on 
 the declaration by St. Luke that " the 
 beggar died, and was carried by the angels 
 into Abraham's bosom ; " and in Hebrews 
 i., 14, St. Paul teaches that they are "sent 
 forth to minister for them who shall be 
 heirs of salvation." 
 
 In the annunciations of the birth of 
 John the Baptist and of Jesus, the angels 
 were the messengers of God, as they so 
 frequently were when they appeared in 
 the Old Testament. 
 
 That angels are attendant on Christ is 
 taught in the declaration of St. Matthew 
 that " the Son of man shall come in the 
 glory of his Father with his angels." 
 And again, " When the Son of man 
 shall come in his glory, and all the holy 
 angels with him." 
 
 That angels are deputed to perform 
 such acts as make for the accomplish- 
 ment of Christ's mission is shown in 
 
176 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Acts v., 19, when an angel liberated the 
 Apostles from prison, and commanded 
 them to "speak in the temple to the 
 people all the words of life." 
 
 When writing to the Romans, St. Paul 
 speaks of angels, principalities, and pow- 
 ers, thus enumerating the different orders 
 of angels, and declares their inability to 
 separate us from the love of God, thus 
 implying that they can do nothing that 
 does not accord with the will of the 
 Almighty, — that they have no power in 
 themselves. Again, in writing to the 
 Colossians, St. Paul speaks of things 
 "visible and invisible," and enumerates 
 thrones, dominions, principalities, and 
 powers, while to the Ephesians he de- 
 clares that God has placed Christ above 
 all these orders of celestial beings. 
 
 After the annunciations to Zacharias 
 and the Virgin Mary, an angel next ap- 
 pears, in the New Testament story, to 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. I.77 
 
 instruct Joseph concerning the miracu- 
 lous conception of Jesus. The appear- 
 ance to the shepherds follows, of which 
 I have spoken in connection with the 
 subject of angelic choirs. 
 
 Again, Joseph was warned by an angel 
 to flee into Egypt with Mary and the 
 young Child, to escape the anger of 
 Herod. In ancient series of pictures 
 illustrating the life of St. Joseph, this 
 scene was curiously portrayed, and but 
 one modern painter, so far as I know, 
 has been moved to represent it. In the 
 Belvedere, in Vienna, there is an admira- 
 ble Dream of Joseph, by Anton Raphael 
 Mengs. 
 
 Pictures of St. John the Baptist in the 
 wilderness are variously treated, and 
 when he is represented as very young, 
 he is attended by ministering angels. 
 This treatment is warranted by the leg- 
 end which teaches that he was a mere 
 
178 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 child of seven or eight years, and is sup- 
 ported by the word of St. Luke in the 
 last verse of the first chapter of his 
 Gospel, " And the child grew, and waxed 
 strong in spirit, and was in the deserts 
 till the day of his shewing unto Israel." 
 The pictures of the Baptism of Christ 
 are numerous, and the number of attend- 
 ant angels is varied from two to four, as 
 a rule, although there are examples with 
 even a larger number. Raphael, Verroc- 
 chio, Paul Veronese, Francesco Albani, 
 Perugino, Tintoretto, and many others 
 painted fine pictures of this subject, which, 
 besides its great interest from its impor- 
 tance in the life of the Saviour, affords 
 an opportunity for the representation of 
 a beautiful landscape. The picture by 
 Rubens excels in this regard ; and in his 
 magnificent setting he has a group of 
 about thirty figures, producing the gor- 
 geous effect which characterizes his work. 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 79 
 
 but failing to suggest the divinity of 
 Christ, or the devotional feeling of the 
 works of Raphael or Verrocchio, and en- 
 tirely lacking the tenderness of Lorenzo 
 di Credi. 
 
 The Bible also contains various texts 
 which authorize a belief in the exist- 
 ence of Satan and his demons. Isaiah 
 exclaims, " How art thou fallen from 
 heaven, O Lucifer, Son of the Morning." 
 St. Matthew speaks of the devil and all 
 his angels, and many other Biblical ex- 
 pressions warrant us in believing that the 
 Spirit of Evil with his attendants is ever 
 tempting men to sin, thus plainly war- 
 ranting the Fathers in their teaching, to 
 which we have referred. 
 
 It is not possible to picture the Temp- 
 tation of Christ in an attractive manner. 
 Satan has been represented in various 
 monstrous and repulsive forms by some 
 artists, while others have given him such 
 
l8o ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 disguises as might well deceive an ordi- 
 nary mortal. He has thus been presented 
 in the garb and with the bearing of a 
 venerable peasant, and again as a monk 
 with robe and cowl, but his especial sym- 
 bols usually manifest themselves, in spite 
 of all disguises. 
 
 The picture by Ary Scheffer, in the 
 Louvre, which our illustration reproduces, 
 tells the story of the temptation very 
 simply and directly. The style of this 
 painter, sad and almost hopeless, is well 
 suited to subjects of this nature. The 
 contrast between the perfect serenity of 
 the Saviour, and the hideous anxiety and 
 determination of Satan, renders this rep- 
 resentation as acceptable as so unlovely 
 a subject can be made. 
 
 In Perugino's famous picture in the 
 Sala del Incendio, in the Vatican, Jesus 
 and Satan are seen in mid-air, like a 
 vision, while in the background, sur- 
 

 Auv S( iii-;ffek. — Thk Tf.mptatiux of Chkfs 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 83 
 
 rounded by a dazzling light, another 
 figure of Jesus is seen between two 
 ministering angels, while the whole scene 
 is encircled by a multitude of cherubim 
 and angels. 
 
 In some pictures of this subject angels 
 are represented as if waiting to support 
 the Master when he shall turn from the 
 demon, but far more attractive than these 
 are the representations in which Satan 
 does not appear, and angels minister to 
 Christ in the wilderness, as if illustrating 
 these beautiful lines : 
 
 " They in a flowery valley set him down 
 On a green bank, and straight before him spread 
 A table of celestial food — divine 
 Ambrosial fruits, fetched from the Tree of Life — 
 And from the fount of life celestial drink. 
 
 And as he fed, angelic quires 
 Sang heavenly anthems." 
 
 One of Murillo's splendid works was 
 founded on the account of the pool at 
 
184 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 Bethesda, as given in John v., 2-8. This 
 was a favorite subject for hospitals, and 
 Murillo painted it for a hospital in Se- 
 ville, from which it was stolen by Mar- 
 shal Soult. 
 
 In the foreground are Christ, the lame 
 man, and three Apostles ; in the back- 
 ground is the pool with its fine porches, 
 above which, in a glorious, dazzling light, 
 the angel hovers, as if about to descend 
 to stir the waters. 
 
 It is a magnificent example of the won- 
 derful power of Murillo. The beauty and 
 tenderness of the head of Christ, and the 
 graciousness of his whole bearing, affect 
 the beholder as do few representations of 
 our Lord. The atmosphere is soft and 
 translucent, the angel gently floats rather 
 than flies, and the porches, while not too 
 ornate, impart a dignified balance to the 
 scene. The coloring is such as is pecul- 
 iar to Spanish art, rich and subdued in 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 185 
 
 contrast with that of the Italians. For 
 example, the red robe and blue mantle, 
 so familiar in pictures of Christ, are here 
 replaced by a rich violet color, most 
 harmonious with the sentiment of the 
 scene. 
 
 There is an ancient picture of this 
 subject in a church near Bologna, sup- 
 posed to be the work of two artists, 
 Jacopo Avanzi, and Lippo d'Almasio. In 
 the same city, in the Church of San Gior- 
 gio, is the picture by Ludovico Caracci, 
 which is, to say the least, very decorative, 
 and has been generously praised by some 
 writers on Art. Many representations of 
 the pool of Bethesda are in hospitals, — 
 as, for example, that by Sebastian Conca 
 at Siena, — rather than in galleries; for 
 this reason it is less familiar than are 
 many other scenes in which angels are 
 represented. 
 
 There are some subjects too sacred in 
 
1 86 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 their character and too spiritually subtle 
 in their significance to be adequately pic- 
 tured to the eye. One of these, to my 
 mind, is the Agony in the Garden of 
 Gethsemane. It has, however, appealed 
 to many artists, and one must admit 
 that the night scene, the sleeping disci- 
 ples, the suffering Christ, the consoling 
 angel, the approaching traitor, and the 
 dimly discerned city of Jerusalem afford 
 unusually picturesque elements for an 
 effective picture. All these have been 
 artistically treated, but ■ The Divine, the 
 central thought in the scene, can scarcely 
 be satisfactorily expressed. 
 
 A most surprising error that has fre- 
 quently been made in pictures of this 
 subject, is that of giving undue promi- 
 nence to the sleeping disciples. Their 
 figures are often placed in the very fore- 
 ground, as if the spectator should chiefly 
 consider the unfortunate somnolence of 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 89 
 
 these men ; by which means the figures 
 of Jesus and the angel are made to ap- 
 pear as secondary. I have seen no pic- 
 ture in which the sleeping disciples are 
 satisfactorily introduced, and I greatly 
 prefer certain curious ancient represen- 
 tations of the Agony, in which Christ 
 and the angel only are present 
 
 Many famous artists, from the time of 
 Mantegna, have painted their conceptions 
 of the wonderful scene in the Garden. 
 Correggio has at least made Jesus the 
 chief person, and his angel is apparently 
 suited to his office of a comforter. Paul 
 Veronese, Albert DUrer, and Rembrandt 
 have all painted powerful pictures of this 
 subject, and Ary Scheffer has depicted 
 the Agony of Christ with living vivid- 
 ness; but one and all of these works fall 
 so far short of one's highest conception 
 of this wonderful event, that, except as 
 examples of the design, coloring, and 
 
I go ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 manner of these masters, they appear to 
 me of little value. 
 
 The visit of the women to the sepul- 
 chre of Christ is variously represented, 
 as would naturally result from the dif- 
 ferent accounts given by the Evangelists. 
 Some pictures represent Mary Magdalene 
 alone, when she saw two angels sitting 
 where the body of Christ had lain, and 
 almost immediately beheld the risen Lord 
 near by, as in our illustration after 
 Burne-Jones. Again, the other women 
 are pictured who saw two men in shining 
 garments, and were told, " He is not here, 
 but is risen ; " more frequently the three 
 Maries are represented coming to the 
 sepulchre, bearing spices, and finding the 
 guards paralyzed with terror, and an 
 angel who tells them that the Lord is 
 risen. 
 
 These scenes have been represented 
 in Art from its earliest and rudest be- 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. I9I 
 
 ginning, and were rendered with perfect 
 simplicity, strictly following the clear 
 scriptural account. Later, the guards 
 were omitted, and the whole scene took 
 on a more dramatic air, until, in the six- 
 teenth century, this subject was rarely 
 painted, and has not again resumed its 
 earlier importance. It makes one in a 
 series of subjects illustrating the life of 
 Christ, but is rarely seen as a separate 
 work. Annibale Caracci painted a pic- 
 ture of the Women at the Sepulchre, 
 which is now in the Hermitage at St. 
 Petersburg ; and in Siena there still 
 exists an example of the same subject 
 by Duccio, who lived in the thirteenth 
 century. 
 
 Pictures of the Last Judgment, as 
 usually painted, are illustrative of a com- 
 bination of scriptural teaching with the 
 imaginative suggestions of preachers, writ- 
 ers on religious subjects, poets, and artists. 
 
192 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 and elements from the sacred legends. 
 There is no scriptural warrant for the 
 presence of Satan and his demons in 
 this scene, horribly effective and im- 
 pressive as they are; but I have reason 
 to think that this element is thought- 
 lessly accepted as authoritative by many 
 who interest themselves in religious art. 
 
 This subject was not represented in 
 sculpture or painting before the eleventh 
 century, and but rarely after that until 
 three centuries later, when it was won- 
 derfully portrayed, notably by Orcagna, 
 in the Campo Santo at Pisa. 
 
 The portions of these pictures for 
 which there is scriptural authority are 
 important. Christ is the Judge in ac- 
 cordance with his own words, Matthew 
 xvi., 27: "For the Son of man shall 
 come in the glory of his Father with 
 his angels ; and then he shall reward 
 every man according to his works." And 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 93 
 
 still more emphatically in Matthew xxv., 
 31-46, where the word-picture of the 
 Judgment is a vividly realistic descrip- 
 tion of some artistic representations of 
 this scene. 
 
 The Apostles seated on each side of 
 Christ are also warranted by his words 
 in Luke xxii., 30 : " That ye may ... sit 
 on thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
 Israel." The Virgin, St. John the Bap- 
 tist, patriarchs, prophets, and saints are 
 all admissible on the authority of St. 
 Paul, who says, I. Corinthians vi., 2 : 
 " Do ye not know that the saints shall 
 judge the world ? " And in the follow- 
 ing sentence : " Know ye not that we 
 shall judge angels.?" 
 
 The angels are deputed to "gather 
 together his elect from the four winds," 
 Mark xiii., 27, and those who fill this 
 office are the trumpet angels in all these 
 representations. 
 
194 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 The division of those to be judged rests 
 on Daniel xii., 2 : " And many of them 
 that sleep in the dust of the earth shall 
 awake, some to everlasting life, and some 
 to shame and everlasting contempt ; " and 
 even more positively on Christ's words in 
 Matthew xxv., already referred to. 
 
 In the utter absence of scriptural war- 
 rant for the picturing of the devil and 
 his satellites, who seize, torture, and hurl 
 into hell those doomed to shame and 
 endless contempt, what defence of it can 
 be made ? Certainly none from an artis- 
 tic standpoint; and this consideration 
 should have prevented such representa- 
 tions. Artists should be commiserated 
 who could not sufficiently express the 
 woe of the condemned by the wretched- 
 ness of their faces and manner, as, hearing 
 the fatal " Depart from me, ye cursed, into 
 everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and 
 his angels," they go to the left, not dar- 
 
Fka AxGt-:Li((i. — Ax Axr^F.L coxductix<; a Suui, to 
 Hea\f.x. 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 97 
 
 ing to raise their eyes to Christ, nor even 
 to look at the blessed of his kingdom. 
 
 It would be a pleasure to consider 
 separately the different methods of rep- 
 resenting the Judge of all the world 
 and those surrounding him, as seen in 
 the works of the masters, but we are here 
 concerned with the angels alone, of which, 
 in nearly all these pictures, there are three 
 classes. 
 
 The angels who hold the cross, scourge, 
 nails, crown of thorns, and other symbols 
 of the Passion of Christ, emphasize the 
 theological teaching that men are judged 
 according to their acceptance or rejection 
 of the Atonement by Christ for the sins 
 of the world. In early pictures of the 
 Judgment these angels stand on clouds, 
 below the Judge, but later they were 
 depicted as hovering above the Judg- 
 ment Seat. In whatever position they 
 are placed, they appear to attribute a 
 
igS ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 vast importance to the prominence of 
 the symbols of the Passion. Fra Angel- 
 ico happily places a single angel at the 
 feet of Christ with the cross alone, as a 
 complete symbol of the suffering and 
 death of Jesus. 
 
 The trumpet angels vary in number 
 from two to many, and are differently 
 placed according to the varying designs, 
 of the artists. Orcagna and Fra Angelico 
 placed them below the Judge, thus indi- 
 cating that their sound could be heard in 
 all the earth. In other pictures, they sound 
 the trumpets directly above the graves, 
 which open, displaying the rising dead, 
 startled from their long sleep and strug- 
 gling to gain a foothold on the earth above. 
 
 The third class of angels are those who 
 announce their fate to all who are to be 
 judged. They sometimes hold the bal- 
 ance in which souls are weighed ; again, 
 they direct those who come to judgment 
 
ANGELS IN THE SCRIPTURES. 1 99 
 
 to the right or left, as in our picture from 
 the Last Judgment by Fra Angelico, in 
 the Florentine Academy; and, again, as 
 in Orcagna's great picture in the Campo 
 Santo at Pisa, a grand warrior angel, with 
 splendid wings, — a true St. Michael, — 
 clad in full armor, with his sword by his 
 side, a glorious halo about his head, and 
 the angelic flame above his brow, holds 
 OHt two scrolls, — one of joy and one of 
 woe, — on which are written the names 
 of the entire human race. 
 
 The pictures of the Last Judgment 
 by Orcagna, Angelico, and Signorelli, in 
 the Cathedral of Orvieto, and Michael 
 Angelo, in the Sistine Chapel, are among 
 the famous pictures of the world. 
 
 The Scriptures mention still other ap- 
 pearances of angels, as that to Cornelius, 
 when he was directed to send to Joppa 
 for Peter; and, again, when Peter was 
 in prison and the Church prayed for him, 
 
200 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 an angel led him forth and the Apostle 
 departed to Cesarea for safety. 
 
 Philip was sent by an angel to meet 
 the Ethiopian eunuch, and teach him the 
 truth, after which he baptized the eunuch, 
 and was then caught away by the Spirit, 
 or angel of the Lord. 
 
 At times the angels were sent on mis- 
 sions of punishment, as when Herod, in 
 the midst of his blasphemy, was smitten by 
 God's messenger, and gave up the ghost. 
 
 These subjects are rich in artistic sug- 
 gestion, and nearly all have been repre- 
 sented in painting or sculpture. The 
 book of the Revelation, too, abounds in 
 visions of angels, from the beginning, 
 when an angel from heaven " signified it " 
 to John the Divine, to the end, when the 
 angel refused to be worshipped, and de- 
 clared himself the fellow servant of John, 
 and of the prophets, and of all that keep 
 the sayings of the book. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 PICTURES WHICH ILLUSTRATE BOTH SCRIP- 
 TURE AND LEGEND. 
 
 [N whatever light one may regard 
 the sacred legends of the early- 
 Church, it is not possible to 
 understand the representations of angels 
 in Art without some knowledge of these 
 ancient traditions. One who knows noth- 
 ing of them, finds himself strangely puz- 
 zled and disconcerted, before the almost 
 numberless legendary subjects which he 
 sees in churches and galleries. 
 
 For example, if one knows nothing of 
 the legend of St. Catherine of Alexandria, 
 how can he explain the picture of her 
 
 mystic marriage to the Infant Jesus, which 
 
 203 
 
204 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 typifies her renunciation of all earthly 
 things, and her complete dedication of 
 herself to the service of Christ and his 
 Church ? , 
 
 St. Catherine is habitually represented 
 with a wheel beside her. When the 
 wheel is whole, it is a symbol of the 
 torture with which she was threatened 
 by the Emperor Maximin ; when broken, 
 it is a token of the miracle by which she 
 was saved from a horrible death. 
 
 During the many years that have passed 
 since my first visit to the gallery of the 
 Louvre, I have retained a vivid remem- 
 brance of my discontent before the beauti- 
 ful picture of St. Margaret. The pleasure 
 that I should have taken in the lovely 
 face and exquisite figure of the saint, in 
 the graceful drapery, and other details of 
 this celebrated picture, was utterly lost 
 through my ignorance. I did not know 
 why she was standing on the frightful 
 
I.oKi-.N/.'i d: C'rkhi. — Ax An"(,f.l in" Addratiox. 
 
SCRIPTURE AND LEGEND. 20'J 
 
 dragon, with his horrible mouth wide 
 open, and his terrible claw raised as if 
 to clutch the beautiful maiden. 
 
 As a consequence of this experience, 
 I resolved to study the religious symbol- 
 ism of the early Christian Church, as I 
 had already studied that of the religion 
 of the classic ages. How frequently now, 
 as then, I meet those who perfectly under- 
 stand the significance of the head of 
 Medusa, or the lyre of Orpheus, who 
 have no conception of the reason for the 
 representation of a church in the hand 
 of St. Jerome, or of the serpent in the 
 chalice of St. John the Evangelist. 
 
 There are numerous pictures, in which 
 angels are introduced, that are founded on 
 the Scripture story, but do not follow it 
 strictly. Many subjects are so suggestive 
 of the presence of angels, that there is a 
 legitimate artistic license for introducing 
 them into these scenes. 
 
2o8 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 For example, the Scripture account of 
 the ministration of angels to Jesus, after 
 the Temptation and after the Agony in the 
 Garden, naturally suggests their presence 
 on other occasions of his suffering, and ren- 
 ders their introduction quite permissible. 
 
 Thus, in the picture of Christ after the 
 Flagellation, in the Monasterio Maggiore 
 in Milan, by Luini, which is full of the 
 wonderful tenderness of that master, there 
 is no angel; while Velasquez, in his pic- 
 ture of the same subject, which is in a 
 private collection in England, introduces 
 such a presence. 
 
 So in the story of the Ecce Homo no 
 angel is mentioned, and the usual devo- 
 tional picture represents the half figure of 
 Christ, or the head alone, wearing the 
 crown of thorns. The historical picture 
 portrays the scene before Pilate, with a 
 number of figures. Some artists, how- 
 ever, have presented this subject differ- 
 
SCRIPTURE AND LEGEND. 2O9 
 
 ently, as in the picture by Moretto, in 
 the Museo Tosi in Brescia. 
 
 This shows the Saviour seated upon 
 the steps of a building, probably that in 
 which was the " common hall," in which 
 the soldiers crowned him. He still holds 
 the reed sceptre, though his hands are 
 bound ; the cross is on the ground before 
 him, and his head is bowed upon his 
 breast. On the steps behind him, and 
 a little above, stands a weeping angel, 
 holding the garment of Christ as if about 
 to wrap it around him. The expression 
 in the convulsed face of the angel is 
 remarkable. It is as if he endeavored 
 to restrain his tears, but could not. A 
 much later picture by Landelle, called the 
 Angel of Tears, is similar to that of 
 Moretto in sentiment; in it a weeping 
 angel kneels before a crown of thorns, 
 his tears falling over his cheeks. 
 
 Angels are also represented in pictures 
 
2IO ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 of the Crucifixion ; in fact, they were never 
 absent in the earliest pictures of this sub- 
 ject, although they were but few in num- 
 ber, and were extremely realistic in their 
 treatment, being precisely like ordinary 
 men with wings added to their shoulders. 
 Later their number was largely increased, 
 and they became less human and ex- 
 tremely passionate in the expression of 
 their sorrow in beholding the agony of 
 Jesus. Giotto and Cavallini introduce 
 an element of absurdity into this momen- 
 tous scene, by representing extremely 
 human little angels as tearing open their 
 plump little breasts in their despair. 
 
 This extreme realism was sometimes 
 carried to the extent of picturing angels 
 with chalices, catching the blood which 
 flowed from the hands and side of Jesus. 
 In accordance with true symbolism, a 
 female figure, impersonating the Church, 
 should hold the chalice to the side alone. 
 
Frnrri i Cipl.'y Print. Cop\ ri^'lit, I^'i;. hy L'urtu tiiui Cauwrxn. 
 
 FKi:xri[. Mkath sTAVix*; thlcIIam) ok ri-ii-: Ni lli-tor, 
 
SCRIPTURE AND LEGEND. 213 
 
 Duccio da Siena, a generation earlier 
 than Giotto, displayed a more subtle per- 
 ception, and grouped a numerous com- 
 pany of angels in a half circle above the 
 cross, in his famous picture of the Cruci- 
 fixion, which is one of the treasures of his 
 native city. Two of them kiss the dead 
 hands ; others cover their faces ; some 
 have thrown themselves down prone upon 
 the clouds; while still others, as if mind- 
 ful of their duties as messengers, are fly- 
 ing upwards to bear the news to the 
 courts above. 
 
 In a few Crucifixions, in which the three 
 crosses appear, angels are receiving the 
 soul of the penitent thief, while demons 
 quarrel over that of the unrepentant crimi- 
 nal. Unpleasant as this treatment is, it 
 is the logical result of the belief that a 
 good or bad angel attended every death, 
 and bore the soul to St. Michael for judg- 
 ment, as is depicted in many ancient 
 
214 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 works of art. The spirits of the blessed 
 are tenderly carried skyward, but the 
 translation of lost souls is attended with 
 some revolting details. 
 
 Gradually fewer angels were represented 
 at the Crucifixion, and an apparently un- 
 written law limited them to two or three 
 with chalices ; indeed, for a time this scene 
 was far less frequently pictured. 
 
 Luini and Gaudenzio Ferrari, Lombard 
 painters of the fifteenth century, again 
 portrayed so many angels, and such num- 
 berless little winged heads, that the upper 
 portions of their Crucifixions were alive 
 with them. These artists, with their re- 
 fined tenderness of manner, created angels 
 that have rarely, if ever, been excelled in 
 what may be termed a genuine angelic 
 quality. Especially is this true of Gauden- 
 zio ; the lamenting angels above his Cruci- 
 fixion, in the church at Varallo, are among 
 the most satisfactory representations of 
 
SCRIPTURE AND LEGEND. 21$ 
 
 angels that occur in any picture of this 
 scene. 
 
 If the Resurrection of Christ is to be 
 represented, the angel is appropriately 
 present; but as no account of the scene 
 is given in the Bible, and no one wit- 
 nessed it, each artist who portrayed it 
 was at liberty to give his imagination 
 full play in his work. For a long time 
 there were no pictures of this subject, 
 its treatment being confined to carvings 
 in ivory, on shrines and other small 
 objects. The greater number of artists 
 apparently esteemed it as too sacred, 
 as well as too tremendous, a subject to 
 be adequately conceived and satisfactorily 
 presented. 
 
 So far as I can learn, the Resurrection 
 was first painted by Giotto, as one of a 
 series of small pictui'es upon a press for 
 the sacred vessels in the Church of Santa 
 Croce in Florence ; it is now in the Acad- 
 
2l6 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 emy of that city. In this picture there is 
 no angel. Fra Angelico represents the 
 Maries talking with the angel, while 
 Christ is suspended in air above them. 
 By degrees the designs for this subject 
 were modified, until, in the picture in the 
 Vatican which has been attributed to 
 Perugino, the rising Christ, bearing the 
 banner of victory, is worshipped by two 
 angels. This work is now believed to be 
 by Raphael, as his authenticated studies 
 for it are in the Oxford Collection. 
 
 Perhaps it is to be regretted that the 
 illustration of this supremely mystical sub- 
 ject was ever attempted in Art. I cannot 
 imagine that any existing picture of it 
 should be seriously approved as a whole, 
 although certain figures or details may be 
 sincerely admired. 
 
 The Ascension of Christ is another 
 mystical subject, which was long unat- 
 tempted in a realistic portrayal of the 
 
SCRIPTURE AND LEGEND. 21'J 
 
 scene as described in the New Testa- 
 ment. Ancient ivories show Jesus as 
 grasping the hand of God extended to 
 him through the clouds, and being thus 
 drawn up from earth. In the twelfth and 
 thirteenth centuries the Scripture expres- 
 sion, " he was taken up," was given a 
 literal meaning, and the figure of Jesus 
 was represented in the mandorla, — the 
 oblong glory in which Christ, the Virgin, 
 or saints are represented when ascending 
 to heaven, — which was borne by angels 
 t© a certain height, when a cloud received 
 him out of sight. 
 
 As with the Resurrection so with the 
 Ascension, Giotto was bold enough to 
 attempt representing the scene in accord- 
 ance with the scriptural description, and 
 painted his idea of it on the walls of the 
 Arena Chapel, in Padua. In the centre 
 of the lower part of the picture are two 
 angels, who, with raised hands, direct the 
 
2l8 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 attention of the kneeling Virgin, and 
 groups of Apostles, also kneeling, to 
 Christ, already soaring far above them, 
 accompanied by numerous worshipping 
 angels, who are on both sides, at some 
 distance apart from him. 
 
 This fresco is much injured, but is 
 highly valued for the sublimity of its 
 composition. No angel aids Christ to 
 rise. He is apparently able to fulfil his 
 own words, " And I, if I be lifted up from 
 the earth, will draw all men unto me." 
 
 Many pictures of the Ascension are 
 seen in galleries, and it became a favorite 
 subject for the decoration of church vaults 
 and cupolas, especially in Greek churches. 
 Correggio's Ascension, in the Church of 
 San Giovanni, in Parma, is famous wher- 
 ever Christian art is studied. This master 
 depicted numberless little angels flying 
 here and there, riding on clouds or mis- 
 chievously peeping from behind them. 
 
SCRIPTURE AND LEGEND. 2I9 
 
 chasing each other as in some boisterous 
 game, and by their levity and froUcsome- 
 ness destroying all seriousness of effect, 
 in spite of the solemnity of the Evangel- 
 ists and Reverend Fathers in the angles 
 of the vault below. 
 
 This picture must not, however, be 
 taken as irreverent. Evidently Correg- 
 gio wished to convey the idea that the 
 Ascension of Christ was an occasion of 
 joy to the angels, to whom his earthly 
 pilgrimage and sufferings had given a 
 certain seriousness, — not sorrow, because 
 angels are happy, and not subject to human 
 wants and weakness. 
 
 Now the great work was accomplished, 
 and even the angels were rejoicing that 
 the Son should again resume his place at 
 the right hand of the Father, until the 
 time when he should come again with 
 glorious majesty to judge both the quick 
 and the dead. 
 
2 20 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 One readily perceives how rich a field 
 for the artistic imagination these mystical 
 subjects presented. But in a comprehen- 
 sive study of them, it is curious to note 
 the effect upon works of Art of the dog- 
 mas of the theologians, as they were pro- 
 mulgated from time to time. In some 
 cases, especially in Spain, rules were pre- 
 scribed for the manner in which religious 
 subjects should be represented, and no 
 artist dared depart from them. 
 
 In the representations of angels, how- 
 ever, there was a larger liberty than in the 
 doctrinal subjects of religious art, and to 
 this we owe the possession of many pre- 
 cious works of sculptors and painters, 
 which are never outgrown, and of which 
 we never weary. 
 
Ri>^,si-;ri[. — Thi-: Axxuni. iatiux. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ANGELS IN PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 
 
 iHE pictures of the Madonna, or 
 Virgin Mary, may be divided 
 into two classes; the devotional, 
 which illustrate the doctrines or teaching 
 of the early Church, and the historical, or 
 the representation of the actual scenes in 
 the life of the Mother of Christ. 
 
 When the Virgin is represented wear- 
 ing a crown or bearing a sceptre, and 
 attended by worshipping angels, she is 
 in the character of the Queen of Angels. 
 The earlier examples of these pictures, 
 as seen in the Florentine Academy, and 
 in the Churches of Santa Maria Novella 
 
 and Santa Croce in Florence, are charm- 
 223 
 
2 24 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 ing in their simplicity, and represent a 
 majestic and mystical womanhood, which 
 entitles them to consideration as works of 
 Art. But later, especially in the seven- 
 teenth century, these pictures degener- 
 ated into portraits of the self-conscious, 
 unintelligent prettiness of the models 
 from whom they were painted. This 
 subject was a favorite one with certain 
 decadent artists, and the contrast between 
 the most ancient and the later pictures of 
 it, gives one a strong impression of the 
 lack of reverence or ideality in men who 
 could thus represent that holy woman, 
 whose heart found expression in her 
 beautiful hymn, beginning, " My soul 
 doth magnify the Lord/' St. Luke i., 46. 
 These pictures have neither the humihty, 
 the intellectual power, nor the sublime 
 faith which the face of the Virgin Mary 
 should express. 
 
 A favorite devotional picture was the 
 
< 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 227 
 
 Coronation of the Virgin. This repre- 
 sentation is an emblem of the Church 
 Triumphant, and is one of the most 
 beautiful, as it was one of the most ap- 
 proved, of the Middle Ages. It appeals 
 to all hearts, since it pictures the reunion 
 of the Mother and Son in heaven, after 
 their separation by his death, and shows 
 him no longer despised and rejected, but 
 reigning in the fullness of power, and 
 exalting his mother above men and 
 angels, welcoming her to his throne, 
 and placing a glorious crown upon her 
 head. 
 
 In the most ancient Coronations, which 
 are very interesting, no angels appear. 
 From the time of Giotto, — the begin- 
 ning of the fourteenth century, — how- 
 ever, angels were witnesses of this scene. 
 Fra Angelico's Coronation, in the Louvre, 
 in which the Virgin kneels to be crowned, 
 has a group of musical angels on each 
 
2 28 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 side. One of the most interesting pic- 
 tures of this subject that I have seen is 
 in the Academy of Venice, by Vivarini, 
 an artist of the island of Murano, who 
 lived in the fifteenth century. 
 
 It is a very large picture, having a 
 throne in the centre, magnificently orna- 
 mented and upheld by six pillars on a 
 splendid pedestal. Christ and the Virgin 
 are seated on the throne, he already 
 crowned, and engaged in placing the 
 crown on the head of Mary. The celes- 
 tial dove hovers between them, and the 
 Heavenly Father appears above, and rests 
 a hand on the shoulder of each. Above 
 are nine choirs of angels ; nearest are the 
 glowing seraphim and cherubim having 
 wings but otherwise so indistinct as to 
 be formless ; above these are thrones, 
 holding the globe of sovereignty ; to the 
 right are dominations, virtues, powers, 
 and to the left princedoms, archangels. 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 229 
 
 and angels. In the lower portion of the 
 same picture are prophets and Patriarchs 
 with the Hebrew Scriptures, the Apostles 
 with the Gospel, saints and martyrs, vir- 
 gins and holy women, lovely children 
 bearing the cross, nails, spear, and crown 
 of thorns, and the Evangelists and Fathers 
 of the Church. There are at least seventy 
 heads in this picture without the angels ; 
 the children are beautiful, and all are 
 finished with great delicacy and care. 
 It is an invaluable example of symbolic 
 art, as well as an exponent of an entire 
 system of theology. 
 
 The Coronation was often a most splen- 
 did picture, as it warranted the use of 
 magnificent draperies and other acces- 
 sories. It was also a joyous picture. Every 
 figure introduced had an air of happiness, 
 and the angels were especially glad. 
 
 In the picture known as the Mother of 
 Mercy, the Virgin is often attended by 
 
230 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 angels. In ancient pictures and bas- 
 reliefs of this subject, she was frequently 
 standing and wearing a long, full cloak, 
 like that of St. Ursula, which was held 
 aside by two angels, thus disclosing groups 
 of kneeling suppliants, praying to her for 
 mercy. 
 
 Very often in this picture the Virgin 
 holds the Infant Jesus in her arms. In 
 other fine examples, — notably in the mas- 
 terpiece of Fra Bartolommeo,in the Church 
 of St. Romano, in Lucca, — the figure of 
 Christ surrounded by angels is seen in 
 the clouds, as if he aided in these works 
 of compassion. Such pictures are numer- 
 ous in hospitals and charitable institu- 
 tions, especially in those that are in the 
 care of the Order of Mercy, where they 
 are singularly appropriate. A bas-relief 
 above the entrance to the Scuola della 
 Caritas, in Venice, is a fine example of 
 this subject. 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 23 1 
 
 Pictures of the so-called Pieta, repre- 
 sent the Virgin holding the body of the 
 dead Christ on her knees. The greatest 
 artists whose works are known to us have 
 represented this subject in sculpture and 
 painting. When it is a strictly devotional 
 work, the Virgin, the Christ, and mourn- 
 ing angels are the only figures admissible. 
 There are many examples in which there 
 are no angels, the Mother being alone 
 with the dead Christ. 
 
 The Pieta by Francia, in the National 
 Gallery, is very beautiful in sentiment, 
 and in execution is full of the tenderness 
 of this master. The Christ is supported 
 by two angels, and the Virgin, with an 
 expression of anguish, seems to look at 
 the beholder as if beseeching sympathy. 
 
 In the sublimely pathetic marble group, 
 by Michael Angelo, in a chapel of the 
 Vatican, there are no angels, but we have 
 engravings of another Pieta by this mas- 
 
232 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 ter, in which the Virgin sits at the foot of 
 the cross, her eyes raised and her arms 
 extended towards heaven, while two angels 
 support the Christ, se,ated lower down, 
 and leaning against the knees of the Vir- 
 gin. According to the custom of Michael 
 Angelo, these angels have no wings, but 
 their expression is such as would make 
 it impossible to mistake them for earthly 
 children. 
 
 There were no pictures of the Immacu- 
 late Conception of the Virgin Mary until 
 the seventeenth century, when Spanish 
 and Italian artists vied with each other in 
 representing this subject, and these works 
 may be said to abound in angels. 
 
 When the Virgin stands on the moon 
 with full sunlight surrounding her, and 
 wearing the crown of twelve stars, she is 
 the personification of the woman described 
 in the twelfth chapter of the Book of 
 Revelation. 
 
h 
 W 
 
 < 
 
 u 
 
 o 
 
 "A 
 < 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 235 
 
 The dogma of the Immaculate Con- 
 ception of the Virgin was much in favor 
 with the Spanish Church before its con- 
 firmation by the bull of Pope Paul V. 
 in 161 7, which was welcomed in Seville, 
 not only by the most solemn religious 
 services, but also by the booming of can- 
 non, and the celebration of bull-fights, 
 tournaments, and banquets. Spain and 
 all its colonies were placed under the 
 protection of the Immaculate Conception. 
 Even now, almost three centuries after 
 this event, it is not unusual for Span- 
 iards to use the salute, " Ave Maria puris- 
 sima ! " the response being, " Sin peccado 
 concepida ! " 
 
 Not long after the publication of the 
 bull, Pacheco laid down rules for the rep- 
 sentation of this subject in Art, which have 
 been conscientiously followed. The Vir- 
 gin is very young, her hair golden, her 
 robe white, and her mantle blue. The 
 
236 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 angels near her bear roses, lilies, and 
 palms. She stands on the moon, wears 
 the starry crown, and the vanquished 
 dragon is beneath her. As the Fran- 
 ciscans were always enthusiastically de- 
 voted to this dogma, it was usual to 
 represent the girdle of the Virgin by 
 the cord of the Franciscans. 
 
 Murillo, the painter of this subject par 
 excellence, was not strictly bound by 
 Pacheco's rules. He adhered to the colors 
 prescribed for the drapery; he varied the 
 tint of the hair, and often was not 
 careful to represent the cord of St. 
 Francis. He never omitted the moon, 
 but it was sometimes full rather than in 
 the crescent, and he pointed the horns 
 upward, while Pacheco directed them to 
 point downward ; and he usually omitted 
 the starry crown. But so satisfactory were 
 Murillo 's Immaculate Conceptions that he 
 was never accused of being unorthodox. 
 
.\[rnii,i,o. — Thic Im.mu I i.ATK i.'oxcEPTiux. 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 239 
 
 Other pictures of the Madonna, by this 
 great Spanish master, are wanting in the 
 characteristics which he invariably gives 
 the Virgin in this subject. Others are 
 commonplace, and might be duplicated 
 among Spanish peasant women ; but the 
 Virgin of his Conceptions are ideal. 
 Spotlessly pure, full of grace and repose, 
 exquisite in refinement and delicacy, her 
 hands folded on her breast, and her 
 sweetly serious eyes raised as in prayer, 
 she seems a fitting companion to the 
 angels about her, but all unsuited to 
 the sufferings of the life before her. 
 
 Murillo painted this picture twenty-five 
 times, and no two of these works are 
 exactly the same, although the differences 
 are sometimes slight. The angels are so 
 numerous that they seem to fill all space, 
 and to be coming forward in still greater 
 numbers out of the depths of the sky. 
 If the dragon is there, he is concealed by 
 
240 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 these lovely, spiritual attendants on the 
 queen of their order. 
 
 Guido Reni painted several pictures of 
 this subject which was well suited to the 
 master of the Aurora, and afforded full 
 play to his ideal of beauty, and his deli- 
 cacy of execution. 
 
 But it was in the Spanish school that 
 these pictures were multiplied, and this is 
 not strange when we remember that every 
 candidate admitted to the academy of 
 painting in Seville was required to declare 
 his full belief in " the most pure concep- 
 tion of Our Lady." 
 
 Mr. Stirling, in his handbook of Spain, 
 speaks of a Conception by Roelas, painted 
 before the time of Murillo, which he 
 calls " equal to Guido." Velasquez also 
 painted a fine Conception, probably be- 
 fore the rules of Pacheco were known, as 
 the Virgin's robe is violet, and she has 
 no unusual beauty. It is, however, a 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 24 1 
 
 solemn and remarkable work in the bold, 
 early style of this great artist. 
 
 In the ancient pictures of the En- 
 throned Madonna there are always 
 attendant angels; in some later works 
 they are omitted. In this subject the 
 Madonna holds the Infant Jesus on her 
 lap, and is surrounded by angels. The 
 earliest Enthroned Madonnas represent 
 the Virgin seated between the Archangels 
 St. Michael and St. Gabriel, as symbolic 
 of life and death. This representation 
 dates from the eighth century in the 
 carved ivories of the Greek Church, and 
 was repeated in sculpture and glass 
 painting during six or seven hundred 
 years. 
 
 Later St. Gabriel appears in the 
 Annunciation only, but as St. Michael 
 was the guardian of Jesus and his mother 
 in their earthly life, he is often beside them, 
 as well as St. Raphael, the guardian 
 
242 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 spirit of all human beings. Perugino 
 presents both these guardian archangels 
 in his lovely picture in the National 
 Gallery. 
 
 This is one of the rare examples in 
 which the three archangels are seen 
 together, each with his appropriate 
 symbol. 
 
 In the usual picture of this subject the 
 Madonna is literally enthroned, her throne 
 being rich and decorative. Raphael, 
 however, placed her on the clouds, the 
 child standing beside her, and the angels 
 below, rather than above them. This 
 might be called the Madonna in Glory, 
 although she is seated on the clouds as 
 on a throne. 
 
 Angels were represented as attendant 
 upon the Virgin very early in the history 
 of Art. Even the ancient mosaics of 
 Ravenna show them about her throne, 
 and as her office of Queen of Angels 
 
ANI.K.. H.irnrKLI.I. MAlinNXA AND AnItKLS. 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 245 
 
 came to be more and more considered, 
 angels were represented as adoring her, 
 sustaining her throne, and performing a 
 variety of services, the most charming 
 being that of the musical angels. 
 
 When Art reached the height of the 
 fifteenth century, the angelic choristers 
 were exquisite in beauty and in sentiment, 
 as they knelt or stood near the Virgin, or 
 sat upon the steps of her throne, playing 
 upon lute and pipe, or singing as only 
 angels can. 
 
 There are so-called half-length En- 
 throned Madonnas, in which the Virgin 
 and Child and angels alone appear. 
 Occasionally the Infant St. John the 
 Baptist is introduced in these pictures, 
 as in the illustration here given, after 
 Botticelli. 
 
 The picture known as the Mater Ama- 
 bilis, in which the Madonna caresses the 
 Child, or tenderly gazes at him, rarely has 
 
246 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 the angelic attendants, but Gian Bellini 
 filled the background of such a picture 
 with winged cherub heads. 
 
 There are two classes of pictures of the 
 Madonna and Child, in which the little 
 St. John Baptist is present. When St. 
 John adores Jesus, kisses his feet, or in 
 any way seems to recognize his supe- 
 riority, it is a purely devotional picture, 
 while a great number of others are 
 simply domestic, friendly scenes. In 
 all of these angels appear in varying 
 numbers. 
 
 An exquisite picture, by Filippino 
 Lippi, shows the kneeling Virgin adoring 
 the Child, who rests on the ground, while 
 near by the little St. John also kneels. 
 The group is surrounded by five angels, 
 one of whom scatters roses over the In- 
 fant, while the others worship him with 
 folded hands. 
 
 Among the' historical and legendary 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 247 
 
 subjects illustrative of the life of the 
 Virgin, are those connected with her 
 parents, Joachim and Anna, her Nativity 
 and Presentation in the Temple, and her 
 life there, — her Marriage and all the 
 scenes preceding the Annunciation. Of 
 the latter I have written in connection 
 with the Angel Gabriel. Many of these 
 pictures are very beautiful, and angels 
 are frequently introduced in them. 
 
 After the Annunciation follows the 
 Visitation, or the Salutation of Elizabeth. 
 I know of but one fine picture of this 
 scene — by Pinturicchio — in which an- 
 gels are present at the meeting of the 
 Holy Women. It is a poetic conception, 
 and the humility of the two angels, with 
 downcast eyes and folded hands, gives 
 them the appearance of attendants on the 
 journey of the Virgin, rather than that of 
 witnesses of the Salutation. 
 
 The Nativity of Christ, the Adoration 
 
248 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 of the Shepherds, and the Adoration of 
 the Magi — Wise Men — have been rep- 
 resented in a variety of ways, and are 
 subjects easily distinguished. The first 
 two are most effective when treated with 
 perfect simpHcity, with no accessories 
 unsuited to the humble condition of 
 Joseph and Mary and the Shepherds ; 
 with such scenes the presence of the 
 angels is in perfect harmony. The Nativ- 
 ity by Albertinelli, in the Uffizi Gallery, 
 and the Adoration of the Shepherds by 
 Correggio, in the Dresden gallery, are fine 
 examples of these subjects. 
 
 The Adoration of the Magi, or Kings, 
 as the legends call them, admits of all 
 the splendor that an artist desires to 
 depict. Many pictures of this scene dis- 
 play magnificent collections of vases, 
 ewers, and other vessels of gold and sil- 
 ver, while the costumes, jewelled diadems, 
 and chains of the Kings, are as gorgeous 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY, 249 
 
 in texture and color as Veronese, Rubens, 
 Rembrandt, and other artists could make 
 them. Veronese perhaps excelled all 
 others in making his Adoration of the 
 Kings, in the Dresden gallery, an impos- 
 ing and gorgeous pageant. 
 
 Angels are by no means a necessary 
 part of this scene, but are always present 
 in the earliest representations of it. A 
 poetic element is imparted to this picture 
 when the angelic announcement of the 
 birth of Jesus to the Shepherds is intro- 
 duced in the background ; or when the 
 star which directed the Magi in their 
 course appears in the sky, surrounded by 
 angel heads. 
 
 In representations of the Flight into 
 Egypt, which Joseph had been directed 
 to make, by an angel in a dream, these 
 heavenly attendants are seen bringing 
 fruits and flowers to the travellers, pitch- 
 ing their tents, leading the ass on which 
 
250 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 the Virgin rides, watching over them by- 
 night, and serving them by day. 
 
 So in the Repose in Egypt, — one of 
 the most charming of these , kindred 
 subjects, — the attendant angels are a 
 delightful feature, and so varied are 
 their occupations, and so fanciful the 
 conceits of the painters of this scene, 
 that many pages might be devoted to a 
 description of them. For example, Van 
 Dyck, in his picture in the Ashburton 
 collection, has represented the Virgin 
 seated under a spreading tree, holding 
 the Child, while a number of angels 
 dance in a round to the music made by 
 other angels in the clouds above. 
 
 Lucas Cranach shows the angels wash- 
 ing linen; Albert Diirer . represents St. 
 Joseph as shaping a piece of wood with 
 his axe ; some of the many angels present 
 gather up the chips and put them in 
 baskets; others dance and frolic merrily 
 
jw.rci KLti-.Ai'. — Thk \'ik(,ix axd thk Axckls. 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 253 
 
 about the group, . while still other more 
 serious angels, — probably guardian spirits, 
 — devoutly folding their hands, stand or 
 kneel around the cradle of the Infant Jesus. 
 
 Titian, in one of his pictures of this 
 subject, introduced a little angel who 
 waters the ass in a stream. Rembrandt 
 gives his Repose the air of a gipsy camp, 
 which is emphasized by the fact that the 
 only light comes from a lantern hung on 
 a tree. I do not know who painted a 
 Repose that I have seen, to which a very 
 human feeling is imparted by St. Joseph ; 
 he is shaking his fist at the ass, which has 
 opened its mouth to bray. 
 
 In the almost numberless representa- 
 tions of the Madonna and Child, and of 
 the Holy Family, angels are frequently 
 introduced. These subjects are so easily 
 recognized, and, speaking generally, are 
 so simply treated as to require no com- 
 ment here. 
 
254 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 I have referred to the legend that an 
 angel announced the approach of death to 
 the Virgin Mary, and have explained the 
 difference between the symbolism of this 
 subject, and that of the Annunciation of 
 the birth of Jesus, all of which is made 
 clear by our illustration. 
 
 In pictures of the death scene there are 
 always angels present, in greater or lesser 
 numbers. In the representations of the 
 Assumption of the Virgin she is some- 
 times borne upward by angels, and again 
 she ascends without aid. In all cases she 
 is attended by choirs of angels, as in the 
 magnificent Assumption by Titian, which 
 is the pride of the Academy in Venice. 
 
 In the purely devotional Assumptions 
 such as that sculptured above the portal 
 of the Cathedral of Florence, — the Santa 
 Maria del Fiore, — the Virgin is within 
 the-mandorla, or almond-shaped aureole. 
 She is clothed in white and wears a veil 
 
Titian. — Tiii' Asscmptidx hf thic \"ik(.iv. 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 257 
 
 and crown ; her hands are joined and she 
 ascends in a glory of Hght, surrounded 
 by angels. The only special difference 
 in these sculptures is the position of the 
 Virgin, who sometimes sits, and again 
 stands upright, in the mandorla. When 
 the representation corresponds to this, ex- 
 cept that the Virgin has no crown, it may 
 more properly be called the Glorification 
 of the Virgin. 
 
 Besides the representations of angels 
 who make a part of the devotional and 
 historical scenes in the lives of Christ 
 and the Virgin, of the Evangelists, Apos- 
 tles, and Fathers of the Church, there are 
 a great number that illustrate the legends 
 of the saints. For example, that of St. 
 Cecilia, whose music charmed even the 
 angelic choirs, so that the angels brought 
 to her the roses of Paradise, is one of the 
 most beautiful. 
 
258 ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 After the death of St. Catherine of 
 Alexandria, angels bore her body to the 
 top of Mount Sinai, as represented in 
 our illustration by Miicke. 
 
 When St. Christina was beaten and 
 thrown into a dungeon, angels bound up 
 her wounds, and St. Agatha was com- 
 forted by them in her prison. 
 
 These are a few examples of the numer- 
 ous appearances of angels in the legends 
 of the saints. 
 
 Perhaps there are no artistic repre- 
 sentations that appeal to a greater num- 
 ber of people, of all possible types, than 
 do those of angels, in both sculpture and 
 painting. One reason for this seems to 
 me to be that angels represent our high- 
 est ideal of created beings, — beings that 
 we can only realize through the power of 
 imagination, either our own imagination 
 or that of another. It may be that of a 
 writer, who, in a vivid word-picture, con- 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 259 
 
 jures up before us a vision of beings that 
 we have not seen, as do Dante and Mil- 
 ton. Or it may be a sculptor or painter 
 who, rendering his own ideal, helps us to 
 see with his eyes and to accept or reject 
 his work as it appeals to, or repels us. 
 
 This recalls the words of Ruskin when 
 he says that the noblest use of imagina- 
 tion is to " enable us to bring sensibly to 
 our sight the things which are recorded 
 as belonging to our future state, or as 
 invisibly surrounding us in this. It is 
 given us, that we may imagine the cloud 
 of witnesses in heaven and earth, and see, 
 as if they were now present, the souls of 
 the righteous waiting for us ; that we may 
 conceive the great army of the inhabitants 
 of heaven, and discover among them those 
 whom we most desire to be with forever ; 
 that we may be able to vision forth the 
 ministry of angels beside us, and see the 
 chariots of fire on the mountains that gird 
 
26o ANGELS IN ART. 
 
 US round; but, above all, to call up the 
 scenes and facts in which we are com- 
 manded to believe, and be present, as if 
 in the body, at every recorded event of 
 the history of the Redeemer." 
 
 With such a thought in mind, it is well 
 worth while to study the various types of 
 angels which are a rich portion of the 
 legacies of the artists to the world. It 
 is surely right to attempt to imagine 
 the glories of a sphere beyond this, — 
 a heaven of purity and glory. One of 
 the most powerful aids to this imagina- 
 tion is the' contemplation of religious 
 pictures, especially those that were exe- 
 cuted with such reverence and sincerity 
 as make them appear to reproduce actual 
 scenes, and, for the time, carry us out of 
 ourselves and into the imaginary earth 
 and heaven of the master whose works 
 we study. 
 
 Thus we may leave this brief review of 
 
PICTURES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 26 1 
 
 the subject of Angels in Art, feeling that 
 its further development by each reader for 
 himself is a pursuit in harmony with St. 
 Paul's admonition : " Whatsoever things 
 are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, 
 whatsoever things are of good report; if 
 there be any virtue, and if there be any 
 praise, think on these things." 
 
 THE END. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abraham, 50. 
 
 Academy of Florence, 125, 
 
 215. 
 Acts of the Holy Angels, The, 
 
 130. 
 Adoration of the Magi, The, 
 
 248. 
 Adoration of the Shepherds, 
 
 The, 248. 
 Agatha, St., 258. 
 Agony in Gethsemane, Pic- 
 tures of the, 186, 187, 208. 
 Albani, Francesco, 39, 178. 
 Albertinelh, 248. 
 AUori, Alessandro, 98. 
 Almasio, Lippo d', 185. 
 Ambrose, Hymn of St., 17. 
 Andrea del Sarto, no, 159. 
 Angel Wings, 19-25. 
 Angels, Orders of, 15-19. 
 Angelic Drapery, 32. 
 Angelico, Fra, 36, 59, 99, roo, 
 
 103, 150, 151, 198, 199, 216, 
 
 227. 
 Angelo, Castle of Sant', 77. 
 Annunciation, The, 86-104. 
 Archangels, Office of the, 18. 
 Arena Chapel, Padua, 217. 
 
 Arezzo, Spinello d', 66. 
 Ascension of Christ, Pictures 
 
 of the, 216-220. 
 Ashburton Collection, The, 
 
 250. 
 Assumption of the Virgin, 
 
 Pictures of the, 70, 149, 254. 
 Aubert, St., 78. 
 Avanzi, Jacopo, 185. 
 Avranches, Normandy, 78. 
 
 Babylon, 25. 
 
 " Bannerer of Heaven," 55. 
 
 Baptism of Christ, Pictures of 
 
 the, 178. 
 Bartolommeo, Fra, 230. 
 Bel and the Dragon, Story of, 
 
 76. 
 Bellini, Gian, 150, 246. 
 Belvedere, The, Vieima, no, 
 
 163, 177. 
 Benozzo, Gozzoli, 39. 
 Biliverti, Giovanni, 119. 
 " Bird of God," 45. 
 Blake, William, 167. 
 Botticelli, Sandro, 125, 151, 
 
 245. 
 Brera, The, 163. 
 
 263 
 
264 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Brescia, Museo Tosi, 209. 
 Bume-Jones, Sir Edward, 190. 
 
 Campo Santo, The, Pisa, 23, 
 192, 199. 
 
 Caracci, Annibale, 191. 
 " Ludovico, 185. 
 " The, 39. 
 
 Carotto, Pictures by, 120-125. 
 
 Catherine of Alexandria, St., 
 73. 203, 258. 
 
 Cavallini, 210. 
 
 Cecilia, St., 257. 
 
 Chaldeans, The, 13, 52. 
 
 Chamuel, 49. 
 
 Cherubim, The, 16-19. 
 
 Choirs of Angels, The Nine, 
 16. 
 
 Choristers, Angelic, 17. 
 
 Christina, St., 258. 
 
 Comforting of Elijah, The, 
 166, 167. 
 
 Conca, Sebastian, 185. 
 
 Coronation of the Virgin, Pic- 
 tures of the, 28, 227-229. 
 
 Correggio, 39, 218, 219, 248. 
 
 Cortona, Cathedral of, 57. 
 " Pietro da, 163. 
 
 Councillors, Angelic, 17. 
 
 Cranach, Lucas, 250. 
 
 Credi, Lorenzo di, 179. 
 
 Crucifixion, Pictures of the, 
 210-214. 
 
 Cyrus, King, 76. 
 
 Dante, 17, 41, 45, 87, 130, 
 
 259. 
 Delia Robbia, 150. 
 Dionysius the Areopagite, 16, 
 
 17- 
 
 Dominations, 17. 
 Drapery of Angels, 32. 
 Dream of Joseph, Picture of 
 
 the, 177. 
 Dresden Gallery, 27, 159, 248, 
 
 249. 
 Duccio da Siena, 191, 218. 
 Dulwich Gallery, i56. 
 Diirer, Albert, 189, 250. 
 
 Ecce Homo, Pictures of, 208, 
 
 209. 
 Egypt, 25. 
 Enthroned Madonna, Pictures 
 
 of the, 241-245. 
 Ercolani, Count, 168. 
 Escurial, The, 128. 
 Etruria, 25. 
 Expulsion of Heliodorus, The, 
 
 40. 
 
 F 
 
 Ferrari, Gaudenzio, 214. 
 FUght into Egypt, The, 249. 
 Florence, Academy of, 59, 149, 
 
 199, 223. 
 Florence, Cathedral of, 254. 
 Florentine Academy, The, 81, 
 
 88,99. 
 Fontainebleau, 60. 
 Four Beasts, The, 170, 171. 
 Francia, 231. 
 Francis I., 60. 
 
 Q 
 
 Gabriel, 48. 
 Galgano, Monte, 78. 
 Garden of Eden, 49. 
 Gaudenzio Ferrari, 214. 
 Ghiberti, 149. 
 Ghirlandajo, 150. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 265 
 
 Giorgio, Church of San, Bo- 
 logna, 185. 
 
 Giotto, 35, 39, 210, 213, 215, 
 217, 227. 
 
 Giovanni, Church of San, 
 Padua, 218. 
 
 Glorification of the Virgin, 
 Pictures of the, 70. 
 
 Glory of Angels, A, 25. 
 
 Gnostics, The, 52. 
 
 Governors, Angelic, 17. 
 
 Granacci, Francesco, 151. 
 
 Great Litanies, The, 77. 
 
 Gregorio, Church of San, 
 Rome, 70. 
 
 Guercino, 163. 
 
 Guido Reni, 39, 62, 65, 156, 
 240. 
 
 H 
 
 Habakkuk, The Prophet, 76, 
 
 77- 
 Hadrian, Mausoleum of, 77. 
 Heliodorus, The Expulsion of, 
 
 40. 
 Hemshirk, 77. 
 Henry VII., Tomb of, 73. 
 Hermitage, The, 160, 165, 191. 
 Hierarchies of Angels, 16-19. 
 Holy Family, Pictures of the, 
 
 2S3- 
 Hymn of St. Ambrose, 17. 
 
 Immaculate Conception of the 
 Virgin Mary, Pictures of 
 the, 232-240. 
 
 Jameson, Mrs., 24, 68, 167. 
 John of Thessalonica, 139. 
 Jophiel, 49. 
 
 Landelle, 209. 
 
 Last Judgment, Pictures of 
 
 the, 73, 151, 191-199. 
 Leonardo, 39, 69, I2i. 
 Lily, Symbolism of the, 94. 
 Lippi, Filippino, 246. 
 
 " Fra Filippo, 88, 99. 
 Litanies, The Great, 77. 
 Liturgy of Angels, A, 34. 
 Loggie of the Vatican, The, 
 
 134, 165. 
 Lord of Souls, The, 68, 70, 
 
 83, 121. 
 Lorenzo dei Medici, 60. 
 Louis, St., 78. 
 
 Louvre, The, 60, 129,202, 227. 
 Lucca, Church of St. Romano, 
 
 230. 
 Lucifer, 55, 57, 58, 66, 85. 
 Luini, 208, 214. 
 
 M 
 
 Madonna, Pictures of the, 223. 
 
 " del Pesce, 125-129. 
 
 " di Fuligno, 129. 
 
 " diSanSisto, 27, 127, 
 129. 
 Madonna in Glory, The, 242. 
 Madrid Gallery or Museum, 
 
 125, 129, 159. 
 Mantegna, 120, 189. 
 Marco, Covenant of San, 100. 
 Maria Maggiore, Church of 
 
 Santa, 91. 
 Marziale, Church of St., 125. 
 Mater Amabilis, The, 245. 
 Maximin, The Emperor, 204. 
 Medina, Duke of, 128. 
 Melozzo da Forli, 150. 
 Mengs, Anton Raphael, 177. 
 Messengers, Angelic, 17. 
 
266 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Michael, St., 48, 156, 199, 213, 
 
 241. 
 Michael Angelo, 39, 199, 231, 
 
 232. 
 Michael, Mount Saint, 78. 
 Milan, The Brera, 163. 
 
 " Monasterio Maggiore, 
 
 208. 
 Milton, 20, 27, 104, 105, 119, 
 
 131, 132, 140, 259. 
 Ministers, Angelic, 17. , 
 Monasterio Maggiore, Milan, 
 
 208. 
 Monreale, Cathedral of, 133. 
 Moretto, 209. 
 Moses, The Prophet, 75. 
 Mother of Mercy, The, 229. 
 MUcke, 258. 
 Murillo, 164, 165, 183, 184, 
 
 236-239- 
 Museo Tosi, Brescia, 209. 
 
 N 
 
 Naples, Church of San Do- 
 minico Maggiore, 128. 
 
 National Gallery, London, 231, 
 242. 
 
 Nativity of Christ, Pictures of 
 the, 247. 
 
 Nineveh, 25, 115. 
 
 Noah, 49. 
 
 Orcagna, 23, 192, ig8, 199. 
 Orders of Angels, 15-19. 
 Orvieto, Cathedral of, 199. 
 Oxford Collection, The, 216. 
 
 Pacheco, 235, 240. 
 Palma, 150. 
 
 Passavant, 126 
 
 Paul, Words of St., 74, 263. 
 
 " v.. Pope, 235. 
 Penigino, 28, 149, 178, 180, 
 
 216, 242. 
 Petersburg, St., 160, 191. 
 Philip IV., of Spain, 128. 
 Pieta, The, 51, 231. 
 Pinturicchio, 247. 
 Pisa, Campo Santo, 192. 
 
 " Cathedral of, 160. 
 Pitti Gallery, The, 119, 168. 
 Pool of Bethesda, Pictures of, 
 
 183-185. 
 Potter, Paul, 167. 
 Powers, The, 17, 25. 
 Princedoms, Angehc, 18, 25. 
 
 Queen of Angels, 93, 223, 
 
 242. 
 Queen of Heaven, 93. 
 
 Raphael, 24, 27, 40, 60, 62, 93, 
 125, 134,150, 156, 164, 165, 
 
 165, 169, 178, 179, 216, 
 242. 
 
 Ravenna, Mosaics of, 242. 
 Rembrandt, 41, 129, 159, 164, 
 
 166, 189, 249, 253. 
 
 Reni, Guido, 39, 62, 65, 156, 
 240. 
 
 Repose in Egypt, The, 250, 
 251. 
 
 Resurrection of Christ, Pic- 
 tures of, 215. 
 
 Richard of Normandy, 78. 
 
 Romano, Church of St., 230. 
 
 Rubens, 66, 163, 167, 178, 
 249. 
 
 Ruskin, Mr., 42, 259. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 267 
 
 Sala del Incendio, The, 180. 
 
 Santa Croce, Church of, Flor- 
 ence, 215, 223. 
 
 Santa Maria Novella, Church 
 of, 51, 223. 
 
 Santa Maria della Salute, 
 Church of, Venice, 160. 
 
 Sarto, Andrea del, no, 159. 
 
 Scheffer, Ary, 180, 189. 
 
 Schoen, Martin, 65. 
 
 Scuola della Caritas, Venice, 
 230. 
 
 Seraphim, The, 16-19. 
 
 Seville, 235. 
 
 Shakespeare, 155. 
 
 Signorelli, 69, 75, 199. 
 
 Sinai, Mount, 73, 75. 
 
 Sistine Chapel, The, 75, 199. 
 
 Sodoma, II, i5o. 
 
 Soult, Marshal, 184. 
 
 Spenser, 14. 
 
 Stanza della Signatura, 40. 
 
 Stirling, Handbook of Spain, 
 240. 
 
 Symbols of Angels, 19. 
 
 Taddeo Gaddi, 51. 
 
 Temptation of Christ, Pic- 
 tures of the, 179-183, 208. 
 
 Thomas Aquinas, St., 51. 
 
 Thrones, Angelic, 18. 
 
 Tintoretto, 178. 
 
 Titian, 39, 125, 160, 253, 
 254. 
 
 Tobias, 49, 107-127. 
 
 Tree of Knowledge, 49. 
 
 U 
 
 UfEzi Gallery, 248. 
 Uriel, 49, 132. 
 Ursula, St., 230. 
 
 Van Dyck, 250. 
 
 Varallo, Church at, 214. 
 
 Vatican, The, 24, 40, 164, 165, 
 180, 216, 231. 
 
 Velasquez, 208, 240. 
 
 Venice, 125, 160, 230. 
 
 " Academy of, 228, 254. 
 
 Verona, Church of St. Eu- 
 phemia, 120. 
 
 Veronese, Paul, 178, 189, 249. 
 
 Verrocchio, 178, 179. 
 
 Vienna, Belvedere Gallery, 
 no, 163, 177. 
 
 Vinci, Leonardo da, 69. 
 
 Virtues, Angelic, 17. 
 
 Visit of Women to the Sep- 
 ulchre of Christ, Pictures of 
 the, 190, 191. 
 
 Vision of Ezekiel, The, 168, 
 170. 
 
 Visitation, Pictures of th e, 247 . 
 
 Vivarini, 150, 228. 
 
 W 
 
 Westminster Abbey, 73. 
 William the Conqueror, 78. 
 Wings, Angel, 19-25. 
 
 Zadkiel, 50. 
 Zoroaster, 13.