Arts, Crafts And Entertainment

Archangels were a popular subject of art from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance Period.  As Angels of Presence, with the permission to enter the presence of God, the four Archangels - Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel were recognized across the religions of Christianity, Juadaism and Islam, although their greatest roles were often documented in apocryphal writings.  Archangel statues are still present across Europe due to the popularity they received during the Renaissance era.

The most famed of the Archangel Michael resides in the Santa Maria della Concezione, in the first chael.  The work is from Italian artist Guido Reni, who favored the high-Baroque style which evolved from the Roman Catholic Churches edict that religious art should engage the commoner with dramatic and emotional appeal. Reni's The Archangel Michael shows the fair haired, musculatured angel with androgynous features hovering over the Devil, with his foot against the demon's head forcing him into submission.  The painting depicts a scene from the book of Revelations where Archangel Michael leads an Army of Angels against Lucifer and binds him for 1000 years. The painting is often referred to as Archangel Michael Slaying the Devil.

God's Messenger Gabriel was the angel who told the Virgin Mary that she would be touched by God and bear a son named Jesus.  This biblical event is referred to as The Annunciation and is a common theme of Renaissance art.  Two works stand out as iconic paintings on the subject.  Da Vinci's the Annunciation was painted from 1472-1475 and is credited to both Da Vinci and his mentor Andrea del Verrocchio.  In the painting Archangel Gabriel kneels  before Mary, a Madonna lily in hand which historians believe symbolizes Mary's virginity.  

The Cestello Annunciation by Botticelli, commissioned in 1489, shows the same Annunciaton event with similar themes.  The painting is noted for its use of perspective in the tiles that lead the eye to the landscape.  The artist shows Gabriel with mouth open, to represent his words from the Gospel of Luke which were engraved into the paintings original frame.  Both paintings are on exhibit at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.  

Archangel Raphael was most often captured in oil as the guardian of Tobias, son of Tobit on his journey to recover hidden money for his blind father, a passage from the Book of Tobit.  His role as god of healing and protector is evident in these paintings that show him leading the boy by his hand.  Filippino Lippi's version of Tobias and the Angel can be seen at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.  Rembrandt took great interest in the Book of Tobit and the Archangel Raphael, making it a frequent subject of his work.

Da Vinci used Archangel Uriel as the subject of two nearly identical paintings titled Virgin of the Rocks or Madonna of the Rocks.  The painting displays a scene where the baby Jesus encounters his cousin John the Baptist as an infant.  In the paintings, the Archangel Gabriel looks on.  Subtle variations can be seen in Da Vinci's two paintings.  In the version that hangs in the Lourve Uriel points at John.  In the version of the painting exhibited in the National Gallery in London, Mary, Jesus and John are haloed. While the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has created some controversy around these paintings and the true identity of Jesus in the image - art historians surmise that the original where Uriel points at John who is closest to Mary may have caused confusion about which infant was Jesus and the second painting by Da Vinci removed Uriel's extended hand.

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