Sacred and legendary art, volume 1 (of 2) / Containing legends of the angels and archangels, the evangelists, the Apostles, the doctors of the church, and St. Mary magdalene, as represented in the fine arts.

by Mrs. Jameson

II. The Archangels.

II. The Archangels.

The Seven

Who in God’s presence, nearest to his throne,

Stand ready at command.—Milton.

Having treated of the celestial Hierarchy in general, we have now to consider those angels who in artistic representations have assumed an individual form and character. These belong to the order of Archangels, placed by Dionysius in the third Hierarchy: they take rank between the Princedoms and the Angels, and partake of the nature of both, being, like the Princedoms, Powers; and, like the Angels, Ministers and Messengers.

Frequent allusion is made in Scripture to the seven Angels who stand in the presence of God. (Rev. viii. 2, xv. 1, xvi. 1, &c.; Tobit xxii. 15.) This was in accordance with the popular creed of the Jews, who not only acknowledged the supremacy of the Seven Spirits, but assigned to them distinct vocations and distinct appellations, each terminating with the syllable El, which signifies God. Thus we have—

I. Michael (i.e. who is like unto God), captain-general of the host of heaven, and protector of the Hebrew nation.

II. Gabriel (i.e. God is my strength), guardian of the celestial treasury, and preceptor of the patriarch Joseph.

III. Raphael (i.e. the Medicine of God), the conductor of Tobit; thence the chief guardian angel.

IV. Uriel (i.e. the Light of God), who taught Esdras. He was also regent of the sun.

V. Chamuel (i.e. one who sees God?), who wrestled with Jacob, and who appeared to Christ at Gethsemane. (But, according to other authorities, this was the angel Gabriel.)

VI. Jophiel (i.e. the Beauty of God), who was the preceptor of the sons of Noah, and is the protector of all those who, with an humble heart, seek after truth, and the enemy of those who pursue vain knowledge. Thus Jophiel was naturally considered as the guardian of the tree of knowledge and the same who drove Adam and Eve from Paradise.

VII. Zadkiel (i.e. the Righteousness of God), who stayed the hand of Abraham when about to sacrifice his son. (But, according to other authorities, this was the archangel Michael.)

The Christian Church does not acknowledge these Seven Angels by name; neither in the East, where the worship of angels took deep root, nor yet in the West, where it has been tacitly accepted. Nor have I met with them as a series, by name, in any ecclesiastical work of art, though I have seen a set of old anonymous prints in which they appear with distinct names and attributes: Michael bears the sword and scales; Gabriel, the lily; Raphael, the pilgrim’s staff and gourd full of water, as a traveller. Uriel has a roll and a book: he is the interpreter of judgments and prophecies, and for this purpose was sent to Esdras:—‘The angel that was sent unto me, whose name was Uriel, gave me an answer.’ (Esdras, ii. 4.) And in Milton—

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.

31 The Archangels Michael and Raphael (Campo Santo)

According to an early Christian tradition, it was this angel, and not Christ in person, who accompanied the two disciples to Emmaus. Chamuel is represented with a cup and a staff; Jophiel with a flaming sword. Zadkiel bears the sacrificial knife which he took from the hand of Abraham.

But the Seven Angels, without being distinguished by name, are occasionally introduced into works of art. For example, over the arch of the choir in San Michele, at Ravenna (A.D. 545), on each side of the throned Saviour are the Seven Angels blowing trumpets like cow’s horns:—‘And I saw the Seven Angels which stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.’ (Rev. viii. 2, 6.) In representations of the Crucifixion and in the Pietà, the Seven Angels are often seen in attendance, bearing the instruments of the Passion. Michael bears the cross, for he is ‘the Bannerer of heaven;’ but I do not feel certain of the particular avocations of the others.

In the Last Judgment of Orcagna, in the Campo Santo at Pisa (31), the Seven Angels are active and important personages. The angel who stands in the centre of the picture, below the throne of Christ, extends a scroll in each hand; on that in the right hand is inscribed ‘Come, ye blessed of my Father,’ and on that in the left hand, ‘Depart from me, ye accursed:’ him I suppose to be Michael, the angel of judgment. At his feet crouches an angel who seems to shrink from the tremendous spectacle, and hides his face: him I suppose to be Raphael, the guardian angel of humanity. The attitude has always been admired—cowering with horror, yet sublime. Beneath are other five angels, who are engaged in separating the just from the wicked, encouraging and sustaining the former, and driving the latter towards the demons who are ready to snatch them into flames. These Seven Angels have the garb of princes and warriors, with breastplates of gold, jewelled sword-belts and tiaras, rich mantles; while the other angels who figure in the same scene are plumed, and bird-like, and hover above bearing the instruments of the Passion (32).

Again we may see the Seven Angels in quite another character, attending on St. Thomas Aquinas, in a picture by Taddeo Gaddi.[58] Here, instead of the instruments of the Passion, they bear the allegorical attributes of those virtues for which that famous saint and doctor is to be reverenced: one bears an olive-branch, i.e. Peace; the second, a book, i.e. Knowledge; the third, a crown and sceptre, i.e. Power; the fourth, a church, i.e. Religion; the fifth, a cross and shield, i.e. Faith; the sixth, flames of fire in each hand, i.e. Piety and Charity; the seventh, a lily, i.e. Purity.

32

In general it may be presumed when seven angels figure together, or are distinguished from among a host of angels by dress, stature, or other attributes, that these represent the ‘Seven Holy Angels who stand in the presence of God.’ Four only of these Seven Angels are individualised by name, Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. According to the Jewish tradition, these four sustain the throne of the Almighty: they have the Greek epithet arch, or chief, assigned to them, from the two texts of Scripture in which that title is used (1 Thess. iv. 16; Jude ix.); but only the three first, who in Scripture have a distinct personality, are reverenced in the Catholic Church as saints; and their gracious beauty, and their divine prowess, and their high behests to mortal man, have furnished some of the most important and most poetical subjects which appear in Christian Art.

The earliest instance I have met of the Archangels introduced by name into a work of art is in the old church of San Michele at Ravenna (A.D. 545). The mosaic in the apse exhibits Christ in the centre, bearing in one hand the cross as a trophy or sceptre, and in the other an open book on which are the words ‘Qui videt me videt et Patrem meum.’ On each side stand Michael and Gabriel, with vast wings and long sceptres; their names are inscribed above, but without the Sanctus and without the Glory. It appears, therefore, that at this time, the middle of the sixth century, the title of Saint, though in use, had not been given to the Archangels.

When, in the ancient churches, the figure of Christ or of the Lamb appears in a circle of glory in the centre of the roof; and around, or at the four corners, four angels who sustain the circle with outspread arms, or stand as watchers, with sceptres or lances in their hands, these I presume to be the four Archangels who sustain the throne of God. Examples may be seen in San Vitale at Ravenna; in the chapel of San Zeno, in Santa Prassede at Rome; and on the roof of the choir of San Francesco d’Assisi.

So the four Archangels, stately colossal figures, winged and armed and sceptred, stand over the arch of the choir in the Cathedral of Monreale, at Palermo.[59]

So the four angels stand at the four corners of the earth and hold the winds, heads with puffed cheeks and dishevelled hair.[60] (Rev. vii. 1.)

33 The Three Archangels (from an ancient Greek picture)

But I have never seen Uriel represented by name, or alone, in any sacred edifice. In the picture of Uriel painted by Allston,[61] he is the ‘Regent of the Sun,’ as described by Milton; not a sacred or scriptural personage. On a shrine of carved ivory[62] I have seen the four
Archangels as keeping guard, two at each end; the three first are named, as usual, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael; the fourth is styled St. Chérubin; and I have seen the same name inscribed over the head of the angel who expels Adam and Eve from Paradise. There is no authority for such an appellation applied individually; but I find, in a famous legend of the middle ages, ‘La Pénitence d’Adam;’ that the angel who guards the gates of Paradise is thus designated:—‘Lorsque l’Ange Chérubin vit arriver Seth aux portes de Paradis,’ &c. The four Archangels, however, seldom occur together, except in architectural decoration. On the other hand, devotional pictures of the three
Archangels named in the canonical Scriptures are of frequent occurrence. They are often grouped together as patron saints or protecting
spirits; or they stand round the throne of Christ, or below the glorified Virgin and Child, in an attitude of adoration. According to the Greek formula, the three in combination represent the triple power, military, civil, and religious, of the celestial hierarchy: St. Michael being habited as a warrior, Gabriel as a prince, and Raphael as a priest. In a Greek picture, of which I give an outline, the three Archangels sustain in a kind of throne the figure of the youthful Christ, here winged, as being Himself the supreme Angel (ἂγγελος), and with both hands blessing the universe. The Archangel Raphael has here the place of dignity as representing the Priesthood; but in Western Art Michael takes precedence of the two others, and is usually placed in the centre as Prince or Chief: with him, then, as considered individually, we begin.