The Mentor Vol. 1 No. 40,
ANGELS IN ART

By JOHN C. VAN DYKE

Professor of the History of Art, Rutgers College

MENTOR GRAVURES

"Paint an angel!" exclaimed Courbet (koor-bay´) the realist to a pupil who one day asked him how it should be done. "When did you ever see an angel?" The abashed pupil had to admit that he had never had the good fortune to see one. "Very well, then, you had better paint the portrait of your grandfather, whom you see every day." The advice to keep his head out of the clouds while his feet were on earth may have been needed by the pupil; but nevertheless angels have been painted time out of mind, and even such pronounced realists as Courbet and Manet (mah-nay´) have painted them. And they saw them, too; that is, they saw the pretty-faced models they turned into angels by adding enlarged pigeon wings to their shoulder blades. But they were not very spiritual angels. Realism rather scorns things spiritual, and besides religious feeling and sentiment in art passed out several centuries before the coming of the modern realists.

The early men—the Fra Angelicos, the Benozzos (ben-ots-o), the Filippinos, of the fifteenth century—believed in the Biblical scenes they painted, and sometimes stated their belief in letters of gold at the bottom of their pictures. They saw things with the eye of faith,—saw Madonnas, saints, and angels in visions, and painted them, as the evangelists wrote, by the aid of inspiration. Perhaps it was their belief, their intense feeling, that gave the fine religious sentiment to the work of these early men. Yet they did not invent or discover the angel in art. It had a more material and commonplace origin than in medieval belief and religious fervor.

WINGED FIGURES IN ANCIENT ART

There were winged figures in Egyptian, Chaldean, and Assyrian art, deities of the air, goddesses of the cloud and the heavens. The Hittite and the Persian produced the winged Sphinx, and the Greek the winged Victory that flew above the advancing host and pointed the way to glory. This winged Victory of the Greeks probably suggested the Christian angel; though the immediate forerunner of the angel was found in the Cupid and Psyche of Roman art. The Christians, following the Romans, took over in their art much of the material of the old Roman world. They had to do this; for Christianity was without form in art, and the early Christians decried it as idolatrous. But later on there came a demand for telling the Bible stories in form and color, that people might see what they could not read. Then Christianity, answering the demand, took up Roman forms and gave them Christian significance. They took the Cupids of Roman art and turned them into Cherubs, and out of the winged Victories and Psyches they made ministering angels.

The pagan form was soon forgotten in the Christian spirit, and the angels of the Gothic and early Renaissance periods developed a new meaning, a new soul. What beautiful sentiment, what profound feeling, the early painters put into the angel of the Annunciation! What a world of pathos and sadness they gave the angel seated by the tomb of Christ! What gladness and joy to the angels of the Nativity standing near the Madonna or singing the Gloria in Excelsis in the upper sky! According to tradition, the angels know neither gladness nor sadness, neither wrath nor pity. They are heavenly messengers obeying the mandates of the Most High, without emotion or feeling of any kind. But the old masters of Italy did not so regard them. They gave them human characteristics, made them emotional and sympathetic, painted them in robes of blue, of red, of gold, of white, and gave them faces and forms that were human, it is true, but as near divine as earthly thought could render them.

CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM

The red-robed angels (they were painted red of face as well as of robe) were the Seraphim, the angels of love, and nearest to God. Often with the early painters only their heads were shown, with wings crossed in front of them, sometimes with four, six, or eight wings. The blue-robed angels were the Cherubim, the angels of knowledge, and they too were shown in their heads only, with many crossed wings. They appeared in groups and halos surrounding the presence of the Father, the Son, or the Virgin. The cherubs or putti of later Italian art, so frequently seen with the Madonna and Child, are the artistic descendants of the Seraphim and Cherubim. They are seen in the large aureoles of light that surround the Madonna; for instance, in Raphael's "Sistine Madonna" and Titian's "Assumption of the Virgin." They recede into the background or come forward in clouds as the countless hosts of heaven.

Frequently the Cherubs are given enlarged childlike or feminine forms with individual features, elongated wings, variegated colors. They are then shown hovering or standing or seated near the Madonna, and are usually playing on musical instruments—making music for the glory of the Madonna and Child. They are seen in the pictures of Bellini (bel-lee´-nee) and Carpaccio (kahr-pah´-cho) near the foot of the throne; with Melozzo da Forlì (for-lee´) they soar in the air; with Duccio (doo´-cho) and Cimabue (chee-mah-boo´-ah) they stand about the throne, dressed in rich robes, singing, playing, or worshiping. Music and color were associated in the minds of the early Italians as though both were manifestations of sentiment in art. Especially was this true at Venice,—the one great color spot in Italian art.

MINISTERING AND GUARDIAN ANGELS

The angels that sang the Gloria in Excelsis, or knelt near at hand at the birth of Christ, were usually larger than the putti, girlish in form, and very beautiful of face. They were dressed sometimes in colors, as with Correggio (kor-red´-jo); sometimes in gold brocades of gorgeous pattern, as with the Vivarini (vee-vahr-ee´-nee); sometimes in white and blue, as with Piero della Françesca (frahn-ches´-kah). Again, they frequently had jeweled crowns or embossed halos or peacock-eyed wings. It was the idea of the old masters to make them decoratively beautiful as well as representative of purity and truth. And they carried out this idea still further in the faces, which were always of the most lovely types they could find or imagine. To us today these angel faces are perhaps the most attractive feature of this early church art of Italy.

The same kind of angels, but clothed usually in white, appeared to the Shepherds, attended the Holy Family in their flight into Egypt, stood by the river bank at the baptism of Christ, were with Him in the wilderness, in the garden, at the crucifixion, watched by the tomb, and rolled away the stone from the door. Others of the angelic host appeared at times to warn Abraham, to present a message to Saint Joachim, to guide Saint Peter out of his prison. They were all ministering spirits, but without specific names.

THE SEVEN ARCHANGELS

On the other hand, certain deeds to be done were given to certain angels who had definite names. These were the seven archangels. It was Michael, captain of the Hosts of Heaven, that overcame the Demon and drove him into the Bottomless Pit; it was Jophiel with the flaming sword that drove Adam and Eve out of Paradise; it was Zadkiel that stayed the hand of Abraham, and Chamuel that wrestled with Jacob. These were all archangels who appeared with their various symbols in Christian art. Uriel, guardian of the sun, is seen less frequently than the others; but Raphael, the chief guardian angel, is often seen in company with Tobit, and occasionally in the pictures of the Last Judgment with Michael, blowing the dread blast of the great resurrection.

But the angel Gabriel appears in art oftener than all the other angels put together. This is because he was the angel of the Annunciation and foretold the coming of Christ. He is seen a thousand times in Italian art, lilies in hand, kneeling and repeating the message to the Madonna. The theme was the most popular of all, and a thousand different types of beauty were created to impersonate Gabriel. Many of them are still existent, and some of them are the most lovely creations of the old masters.

ANGEL IDEALS OF THE OLD MASTERS

Of course the ideal of angelic beauty varied with each painter. Each chose for a model the fairest type he could find, and each differed from his fellow. Perhaps the most popular types of angels in the early Renaissance were painted by Melozzo da Forlì. A notable group of them was painted in a cupola of the Church of the Apostles in Rome. They were angels of the Ascension, and surrounded the rising figure of Christ. The fresco afterward became so damaged that it was taken down, and some of the angels were transferred to the Sacristy of St. Peter's, where they are now to be seen. Our reproduction shows a detail of one of them,—one with a fair face, abundant hair, a halo about the head made up of golden cubes of mosaic, and large expanded wings. The figure is seen slightly foreshortened, and this, with the spread wings that seem really large enough to support an angel, gives the impression of flight, or at least a hovering movement. The wings are upraised, and seem to frame the beautiful head and its halo. This upward swing of the wings is counterbalanced by the downward sweep of the drapery from the waist line. Between the upward and the downward curves is a swirling cross line, made up by the shoulder, the arm, and the violin bow. All this is shrewdly worked out, and gives force and movement to the figure. The whole composition has nobility and loftiness about it, and is not a mere sweet-faced affair of the Carlo Dolci (dol´-chee) kind.

TYPES OF BENOZZO AND LEONARDO DA VINCI

The angels of Benozzo Gozzoli (got´-so-lee) are of similar characters. They have not a particle of sweetness about them, and would never be called "pretty"; but what fine sentiment and decided individuality they have! They are part of a famous fresco in the Riccardi Palace at Florence, one of the finest and best preserved frescos in all Italy. The little chapel where they are had its walls entirely covered by Benozzo with a fresco representing the Adoration of the Kings. The gorgeous procession of the kings and their attendants (made up of portraits of the Medici and their friends, with Lorenzo the Magnificent riding as one of the kings) covers three walls of the chapel. The splendid cavalcade winds along, and finally comes up to the fourth wall, where was once shown the Madonna and Child with Joseph. This group of the Holy Family has disappeared; but the band of worshiping angels is on the side wall, still intact. The angels are kneeling and standing amid flowers which one does not see at first because of the bright colors and the golden halos. What beautiful faces, naïve forms, and praying hands are here! This is sincerity in art, and true enough sentiment into the bargain. One will travel far before seeing its better.

A historic and even a sentimental interest attaches to Leonardo da Vinci's (lay-o-nahrd´-o dah vin´-chee) little angel in the Baptism of Christ by Andrea Verocchio (vay-rok´-kee-o). Vasari (vah-sah´-ree) recites the story of how Verocchio, when ill perhaps, told his pupil, the young Leonardo, to finish this picture by painting in the second angel, and that Leonardo did it so well that it was superior to the other parts of the picture. "Perceiving this, Andrea resolved never again to take pencil in hand; since Leonardo, though still so young, had acquitted himself better in the art than he had done." This is a pretty story, which has been pooh-poohed and denied by recent criticism, but without reason. The angel with the profile was certainly done by a different hand than the angel with the full face. It is different from any other part of the picture, and there is every reason to believe it done by Leonardo as Vasari states. The charm of the angel, the type, the graceful contours, the light and shade, all foreshadow the later work of Leonardo. What a lovely creation, not only in face and feature, but in serenity and fine feeling!

THE CHARMING ANGELS OF PERUGINO

Perugino (pay-roo-jee´-no) was in that same studio of Verocchio, a fellow pupil with Leonardo; but his angels are much weaker conceptions than Leonardo's. They are contemplative, full of wistful tenderness, lost in reverie; but they lack somewhat in mental grip. They make up for this, however, by a charming sentiment. The St. Michael, reproduced herewith, shows it. He is hardly the ideal captain-general of the heavenly host, able to wield the sword in the front ranks; but on the contrary is a slight, boyish figure, full of fancy, and lost in day dreams.

PERUGINO'S SAINT MICHAEL

In this picture he stands aloof from the figures about him, and, with his head inclined to one side, seems to be listening to the song of the angels in the upper air. The brown eyes are full of earnestness; but the round face and slight mouth have no set purpose other than to suggest sentiment and symmetry. A very pretty type, no doubt; but not a strong one. A man of power like Michelangelo could have very little sympathy with it. Indeed, he sneered at the pretty face and called Perugino a dolt and blockhead in art. That was more than Perugino could bear, and, in a rage, he brought Michelangelo before the Council of Eight on a charge of slander. But it only resulted in a laugh at Perugino's expense. His action was perhaps foolish; but his pictures are not to be laughed at. They are excellent in color, and the pretty face that Michelangelo scorned became the early model for Perugino's great pupil, Raphael.

THE ANGELS OF FRA ANGELICO

In sweetness of type and depth of feeling, the angels of Fra Angelico are more profound than Perugino's. Besides, they seem to have more sincerity about them. The monk-painter in his cell saw visions of heavenly things, and as he saw so he recorded in art. All his faces seem filled with divine tenderness. He painted only one face, one type. His pictures show men with beards and monks in cowls, and angels in flowing robes with bright wings; but there is always the same face, the same sentiment. His trumpet-blowing angels, of which there are countless copies in existence, are epitomes of this conception and sentiment. They have great purity and beauty. Fra Angelico was a man of pure thought to start with, and everything he touched reflected his purity.

TYPES OF FILIPPINO AND BOTTICELLI

Filippino and Botticelli came later than Fra Angelico, and the Florence of their day had begun to draw away from medieval traditions in art in favor of more learned technical accomplishment; yet one can hardly see any waning of sentiment in the work of these men. In fact, the sentiment of Filippino is often perilously near to sentimentality, so intense and earnest is the feeling of the man. His Madonna is always on the brink of tears, and his angels are in perfect sympathy with the Madonna. Botticelli is more of an intellectual force; but he too is saturated with sentiment to a point of morbidity. His Madonnas have sad eyes, mouths that droop at the corners, hollow cheeks, and long, flowing hair. They bend before the Angel of the Annunciation like broken flowers, or agonize at the Crucifixion like lost souls. Their sentiment is intense. Nor does it vary much when Botticelli dealt with classic subjects. His Venus in her seashell, his Pallas, his Spring, all have some of the same morbidity, mingled with mystery, melancholy, tenderness, that we see in his angels surrounding the Madonna. This personal quality of the painter is very attractive, and has perhaps done more to make Botticelli popular than his fine qualities as a draftsman and a painter.

PRERAPHAELITE ANGELS

When the Preraphaelite movement started in England over half a century ago, with Rossetti, Holman-Hunt, and Millais as painters, and Ruskin for a prophet, it could think of no one better as a model to follow than Botticelli. The Botticelli look is quite apparent in the sad, rather unhealthy faces of Rossetti. This Rossetti influence was handed on to his pupil, Burne-Jones. None of the Preraphaelite ardor was abated or its sentiment lessened with Burne-Jones. Indeed, he improved upon his master both technically and sentimentally. He was a much better draftsman and colorist than Rossetti, and presented the Preraphaelite idea with greater force and effect.

THE ANGELS OF BURNE-JONES

The Burne-Jones type had rounder, more inquiring eyes, thinner cheeks, a sadder mouth, a more willowy figure. It appears often in long, flowing hair, with swirling drapery, and dramatic action. At other times one sees it as a romantic type consumed by a fever of passionate sentiment. The Annunciation shown herewith is not a very good illustration of this. The Madonna has a dull stare in her eyes as though she was something of an invalid, and even the angel has a semi-malarious look. But the melancholy, the sadness, the morbidity, so apparent in Botticelli are also apparent here. The picture is a fine example of the painter's decorative sense. It has been put together with much skill. Notice the architecture, the passageway at back, the bas reliefs, the repeated lines of the draperies in both the Madonna and the angel. One could almost wish it in stained glass, so beautifully would it fill an upright window.

Every painter of Botticelli's rank in Italy had a score or less of followers, and among them all there was never any dearth of sentimental Madonnas and pathetic angels. Florence held no monopoly of the subject.

ANGELS OF BELLINI AND CARPACCIO

At Venice in the early days were Bellini and Carpaccio, who produced famous Madonnas and most lovable angels. They are different angels from those of Botticelli. In fact, they are little more than handsome children naïvely making music for the Madonna and Child. Their unconscious quality is captivating. How very childlike, in their pure faces, their golden hair, their round legs and fat little hands! The models were perhaps the painter's own children. Why not? Was not the Madonna, nine times out of ten, the painter's own wife? And how better could he depict the winged messengers of the sky than by painting them with the forms of those he loved here below? It is only a step across the world from heaven to earth, and is not love the band that unites them?

SUPPLEMENTARY READING.—"Sacred and Legendary Art," Jameson; "Life of Christ in Art," Farrar; "Christian Iconography," Didron; "Angels of God," Timpson; "Angels in Art," Clement.

THE MENTOR

ISSUED SEMI-MONTHLY BY

The Mentor Association, Inc.

381 Fourth Ave., New York, N. Y.