Recording angels

Opaque glass mosaic, designed by William Blake Richmond, executed by Messrs Powell of Whitefriars, completed by 1893



This is one of a pair of mosaics flanking the central figure of Christ in Majesty. Both mosaics illustrate the last judgement as described in the Book of Revelation. The brief note in the biblical book, is embellished, borrowing from Jewish sources, in particular the Book of Malachi in which angels are described as recorders of every human deed and prayer. This mosaic represents the sadness and condemnation awaiting those who are rejected from Heaven. When looking at these two mosaics, it is worth keeping in mind how these angels fit into the overall concept of angels around the quire: angels are the dominant element of the scheme, and form a link between scenes taken from the Old Testament and thosee taken from the New Testament, as in this case the apocalypse.



Brief description: located on the South side of the apse; a standing angel with four wings is the main figure of this strictly symmetrical composition; four angels surround this main angel, who is dressed in a patterned dalmatic and stretches his hands towards the ground; the surrounding angels have two wings and display extreme sadness in the faces; the front angels are seated and support a long narrow scroll, listing the names of those condemned to hell.



Related quotes: Revelation 20:12: “Also another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, by what they had done.” (RSV)

Browne 1896, p. 6: “On the north side an angel stands erect, beckoning, with two other angels, carrying crowns; at their feet, arranged as so to occupy the difficult space round the head of the window, are two angels supporting the scroll which represents the book of life (Revelation xx.12) [...] The central angels in these panels are the nearest approach in Mr Richmond’s work to the Byzantine stiffness of some of the earliest mosaics, the object being to produce a strong contrast with the Figure in the central panel.”



Literature and references: Browne 1896, p. 6; Reynolds 1995, p. 259; Zech 2015, p. 41.