ANGELS

The announcement to Maria of the birth of Christ by the Archangel Gabriel characterizes the role of the angel: the "Angelos", the heavenly messenger, a credible conveyor of God’s will, readily believed where prophets are often ignored. When not conducting God’s business, the angels occupy themselves by gathering together in great numbers to sing His praises. In paintings, the angels complete this ritual by playing heavenly instruments. According to the old Hebrew faith, angels had a physical presence. They could mingle among humans, only to be recognized when they made their message heard. In the first century BC, angels lost this material quality and became spiritual entities, who could only communicate with humans in an ethereal capacity. This gave rise to a lively angel cult as expressed in Jewish apocryphal writings. The winged angel, so familiar to us now, first emerged in the fourth century in analogy of winged figures from the ancient classics, such as Nike. During the Middle Ages, the angels were ranked according to a celestial hierarchy consisting of nine “orders”, the highest being the Seraphim (gifted with love), followed by Cherubim (gifted with knowledge) and the Thrones (privy to Gods creation). The Dominations, Virtues and Powers, are followed by the Principalities and the Archangels, who deliver the most significant messages. The other angels were charged with less important messages. A separate category is formed by the guardian angels that assist people in making the right choices during their mortal existence. "Putti" are not members of the “orders” either. These chubby angels first appeared during the Renaissance, inspired by tales from classic mythology. The putto illustrates how the ethereal angel appears in many guises over many centuries of art, depending on the dominant religious convictions and the artistic conventions.