A Day in Carl Spitzweg’s Humorous Biedermeier World

 

“The more materialistic science becomes, the more angels shall I paint: their wings are my protest in favour of the immortality of the soul.” – Sir Edward Burne-Jones

 

From Icons to Christmas Cards: Angels in Art

The jewel-hued angels of the Pre-Raphaelite artist Burne-Jones often grace Christmas cards and ornaments, but did you know that their regal appearance goes back to the way angels were depicted before the onset of Renaissance? Before angels turned into chubby children, like those at the foot of Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, they were portrayed as adults in shining robes, as described in the Bible. 

Have you ever wondered why there are so many baby angels in old European art? If you’re confused by the number of tiny, winged infants in art history, this article will clarify some of the misperceptions about angels in paintings.  

Brief History of Angels in Art

Religious Baroque art abounds in angels, floating on clouds. Often, they look like small children with small and not very efficient-looking wings.

But what about earlier art? How do medieval artists portray these celestial beings?

The entire iconography of pre-Renaissance and early Renaissance religious artworks was heavily influenced by Byzantine art. The icons of the Byzantine Empire had an impact on the medieval visual arts until the 12^th century, and its influence is felt in the art of the early Renaissance in Italy. Artists during the 13^th and 14^th century were just starting to turn to perspective and greater realism. Angels are present in many of their solemn religious compositions, like Giotto’s Ognissanti Madonna. The angels’ figures are much smaller than those of the Madonna. But it’s not because of their being portrayed as children. The figures of the saints behind them are just as small.

Ognissanti Madonna. ca. 1310. Giotto di Bondone

The reason for their disproportionately small size is that Giotto is still using the hierarchic scale. This means that the more important figures are larger, whereas the less significant figures are shown smaller. In medieval and ancient art, the size of the figures was used to convey their importance in a scene. It was a way to show hierarchy rather than to reproduce realistic dimensions.

For instance, in Duccio’s “Madonna of the Franciscans”, you’ll see both angels and humans – a group of Franciscan friars worshiping the Madonna and the Christ child. Jesus is shown larger as a baby than any of the three kneeling monks. Consequently, Virgin Mary looks like a giantess in comparison with both the angels and the Franciscans.

Madonna of the Franciscans. ca. 1300. Duccio di Buoninsegna

The angels in Pre-Renaissance and early Renaissance paintings are definitely not children. Despite being smaller than the central figures, they look like stately adults dressed in precious silks and gold-embroidered cloth. 

While not making them the center of their paintings, medieval artists still endeavored to convey the grandeur of the messengers of God from Biblical stories.

It was only during the Renaissance that the angels in art lost their solemnity and started being portrayed as small children.

Not All Cherubs Are Created Equal: Difference Between Angels, Cherubs, Amoretti, and Putti

Angels in the art of the Renaissance, and especially of the Baroque continued being portrayed as smaller than the important figures in the scene. But since the artists were painting in an increasingly more realistic manner, the small figures became children. Angels in the Renaissance art seem to have been a way to add lightheartedness and whimsy to the serious compositions of Madonnas and saints. Just take a look at some of the little impish dears in these images from Renaissance and Baroque art:

The Sistine Madonna. detail. Raphael

Raphael’s famous angels look frankly a bit bored by the serious scene going on above. 

The Sistine Madonna. c. 1513–1514. Raphael

In Rosso Fiorentino’s Madonna with saints, the angels sitting at the base of the Madonna’s chair are not paying attention at all – instead they’re amusing themselves by reading.  

Madonna and child with saints. detail. 1518. Rosso Fiorentino

Andrea del Sarto goes even further by showing the angels in his Madonna of the harpies throwing a tantrum, just like little children are known to do.

Madonna of the harpies. 1517. Andrea del Sarto

None of these tiny beings look like they’re serious angels with divinely bestowed powers. Instead, what they call to mind is Cupid, the little lurking god of love from classical mythology. And no wonder, since the Renaissance saw an enormous interest in the art of antiquity, taking on many themes, poses, and compositions from the remnants of ancient Greek and Roman heritage available to the Renaissance painters. Angels merged with the winged mythological beings called putti or amoretti in Renaissance and Baroque art. So much so that it’s often difficult to tell the difference. These chubby toddlers are most often portrayed with wings, just like angels. Although occasionally their wings look underdeveloped or even like butterfly wings. These tiny angels don’t necessarily symbolize heavenly presence. They are found in Rococo idyllic paintings of frivolous leisure, as well as in all sorts of amorous settings in mythological and other non-religious art. 

Allegory of poetry. 1760s. Francois Boucher

So, how do you tell who the artists intended to portray? Are the tiny figures angels, cherubs, or putti? In art after the Renaissance, these terms are often interchangeable, and it’s not always clear whether an artist meant the kids in their painting to portray adoring angels, glorious cherubs, or simply to fill the space. Still, if you’re curious and patient, there are some things to look out for.

What Are Cherubs?

If the winged children in the painting only have a face framed with wings, these are almost definitely cherubs. The cherubim (plural of cherub), are mentioned as a type of angel in the Old Testament. Their functions include guarding the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24). Described as bewildering creatures with two sets of wings and several faces in Ezekiel 10:14, they were often portrayed in art simply as floating children’s faces with wings.

St Joseph with the Christ Child Sleeping in his Arms. Francisco Camilo

Full-sized children with wings are usually random angels, often portrayed floating on a cloud. They signify divine presence in religious scenes.

What Are Putti?

Putti (also called amoretti, or putto / amoretto in singular) are tiny winged children, associated with Cupid or Eros in ancient Greek and Roman art. They were a popular decorative motive in the art of antiquity, often found on Roman frescoes and mosaics.

Fresco with putti making perfumed oil, House of the Vettii VI 15,1 Pompeii

One of the indications that the winged figures in a painting are putti and not angels is if the painting isn’t depicting a religious theme. Allegories or mythological scenes are much more likely to contain putti, not angels or cherubs. They are also occasionally depicted with butterfly wings, although this is more characteristic of fairies in art.

Returning to More Realistic Angels

With the rise of realism in the 19^th century, many artists returned to a more realistic and Bible-based depiction of angels. As beings of power, they surely couldn’t plausibly be expected to look like frivolous, chubby children.

In some cases, artists decided to portray angels as women. This was probably popular with the Victorian audience, who famously expected their wives to be the “Angel in the House.” The depiction of angels as languishing women, however, is definitely based more in Victorian sentiments than on Biblical descriptions.

Angel. Carl Timoleon von Neff

Sir Edward Burne-Jones, on the other hand, created a youth-like ideal of angels that he used repeatedly in his art. His angels are neither male nor female, but rather spiritual beings existing in a world of music and bright, gem-like color. Burne-Jones followed in the footsteps of the early Renaissance artists he admired when he painted his angels as adults. 

Angel Playing a Flageolet. 1878. Sir Edward Burne-Jones

Burne-Jones’ “Angel playing a flageolet” was originally a design for a stained-glass window. The artist produced his first design for a stained-glass window in 1857, when he was barely in his twenties.  During his lifetime, he went on to make countless designs for church murals, stained-glass windows, and other decorative objects.

During his trip to Italy, the artist was inspired by early Renaissance artists, like Botticelli and Bellini. His angels owe their medieval dignity and pose to the linear perfection of the Florentine disegno.

One painter that Edward Burne-Jones was probably most inspired by for the solemn and colorful images of angels he produced was the Florentine painter Fra Angelico. A monk in the Dominican monastery of San Marco in Florence, Fra Angelico’s actual name was Fra Giovanni da Fiesole. He is known for his frescoes in the San Marco monastery as well as numerous jewel-colored paintings on wooden panels, many of which are displayed today at the monastery’s museum as well as many of the most important museums worldwide.

Angel in tondo. Fra Angelico

It’s not surprising that 19^th century American, German, and Scandinavian painters were often truer to the Biblical sources in their depictions of angels. After all, their art was in various ways shaped by the Protestant faith, which is dedicated to studying the original Biblical sources.

While it never says in the Bible exactly what angels look like, they provoke respect and even fear from those who meet them. At the same time, some of the characters in the Old Testament, who meet angels, don’t immediately recognize that they aren’t human, like in the story of Abraham visited by the three angels.  

Here are several 19^th century paintings that depict angels as powerful beings, deserving of consideration. In both cases, the figures portrayed are archangels, as seen by their blazing swords. 

The Guardian of Paradise. 1889. Franz von Stuck

Some connect these figures with the angel guarding the entrance to the Garden of Eden after the fall and expulsion of Adam and Eve.

Angel with the Flaming Sword. between 1890 and 1891. Edwin Blashfield

Angels can be a confusing subject in art. This is first of all due to the fact that there are few descriptions in the Bible or later texts associated with the Christian church. That’s why angels were often treated with more casual artistic imagination, often becoming merely decorative additions to religious scenes. Putti, cherubs, and amoretti were all used to indicate an otherworldly atmosphere. In mythological subjects, they also often stood for love, taking on the role of Cupid. This is the reason behind the profusion of tiny angels in Rococo art, for instance.

The Sistine Madonna. detail. Raphael

In Renaissance and later art, artists used small, child-like angels as ornamentation, adding liveliness and spontaneity to compositions that were often strictly regulated. If you look carefully at the background behind the Madonna and child in Raphael’s Sistine Madonna, you’ll see how the artist filled the entire sky with transparent cherubs, adding a subtle and almost humorous touch to his majestic depiction of the Madonna.

 

Further Reading:

https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/artifact/angel-playing-flageolet

https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/saint-joseph-with-the-christ-child-sleeping-in/22a76e23-6390-446b-9915-8509ce80eac5

https://www.mleuven.be/en/even-more-m/souffleur-what-are-putti