This gallery includes different types of depictions of two very popular objects in art throughout the ages. While both very popular, angels and demons are complete opposites, and many of the ways each is depicted seem opposite as well.
Image #1- Jacob Wrestling with the Angel- Rembrandt:
This painting of Jacob Wrestling the Angel by Rembrandt comes from a specific biblical text. One night while Jacob was crossing a river to meet his brother, he has the unusual experience of wrestling with an angel. He refused to give up, and demands a blessing. For his perserverence his name was changed to Israel which means “contender with God.” During the struggle it is said that the angel touched Jacobs hip which was out of joint. By looking at the scene we can determine that Jacob is struggling much more than the almost calm and serene angel. This painting caputures that moment where the angel is pressing his knee to the hollow of jacobs thigh. The is moment in the painting is when the angel releases, and from the look on his face, he is granting the blessing that Jacob had earlier demanded. This struggle is symbolic of many christian messages. This specific struggle represents that in the human heart between selfish impulses and higher ideals. Whe one can “hold on to the good angel” for a long enough time to receive a blessing, is when the good has won.
Image #2- The Fall of the Rebel Angels- Peter Bruegel the Elder:
This artwork by Peter Bruegel the Elder depicts angels, however he depicts them in an unusual and uncommon way. Taken from the book of Revelation, Bruegel shows the many grotesque figures of what represent the devil. They are represented as half human, half animal monsters and come in a huge swarm. They have even been compared to a ridiculous-looking plague. The only human figure, in the center, St. Michael is left with the gruesome task of getting rid of and fighting off these creatures. Luckily for him, he has several loyal angels to help him fend off the beasts. The creatures come seem to fall from the sky, and swarm St. Michael and the angels as they spread out to fill the entire lower half of the painting. In the bottom center of the painting appears the hole into hell that the creatures are being sucked down into. Bruegel did a successful job of creating movement and chaos in this painting. Instead of chosing to show a few fierce, dignified, and forceful demons, he decided to show a huge, tumbling multitude of miscellaneous creatures. If you look closely you can pick out creatures like, a moth, a puffer fish, an oyster, a snake, and even a skeleton. While this image is not the most realistic or easy to believe, Bruegel did an efficient job of showing the sheer chaos and sheer mass of the falling demons.
Image #3- Madonna and Child with two Angels- Filippo Lippi:
In Madonna and Child with Two Angels, by Fillipo Lippi, not only the angels, but the whole scene is much more calm in comparison to the previous painting by Peter Bruegel the elder. This work by Fillipo Lippi is one of his best known and most admired paintings of the Italian Rennaisance. The profile of the virgin Mary is portrayed praying infront of the child who is being supported by two smiling angels. The angels look very much like two trouble-makers or rascals. Nevertheless, the painting is calm, serene and elgant. The background is filled with a beautiful idealized landscape most likely inspired by Flemish painting. The chair molding is very elegant, as well as the fancily decorated arm cushion. Mary herself is embellished with veils and pearls and sporting beautifully styled hair. The Virgin Mary is even said to have been used as a model for Botiticelli’s Birth of Venus since Botticelli was a pupil of Filippo Lippi’s. The sweetness and calmness of the painting was very enjoyable and easy to look at, and this painting served as a model of elegance for many painters to come. Unlike other works of this subject, the child isnt held by Mary, but the angels instead. One angel even seems to be smiling and smirking at the viewer.
Image #4- Death and the Miser- Heironymus Bosch:
Death and the Miser by Heironymus Bosch is perhaps as puzzling and mysterious as he was. Bosch was said to have been a moralist, and was pessimistic about mans’ inevitable descent into sin. This painting belongs to the tradition of momento mori which are artworks that are meant to remind the viewer of the inevitability of death. This image is a great reperesentation of Bosch’s beliefs for several reasons. In this panel, which was probably a part of a larger altarpiece, a dying man seems torn between salvation and sin. At the foot of the bed a younger man, which may represent the miser at an earlier age, hypocritically throws coins into a chest with one hand as he holds a rosary with the other. This hypocracy shows his indicision in his earlier life. In his last hours, with death right at the door, the miser still hesitates. He cannot decide whether to take the demon’s bag of gold, representing sin, or whether to look towards the crucifix on the window that the angel is pointing to, representing riteousness. This image is meant to do just that, make you wonder. We will never truly know if in his very last moments, the miser will embrace christ’s salvation being offered to him, or will he be stuck to his earthly riches.
Image #5- Dead Christ Supported by Two Angels- Carlo Crivelli
While this painting is clearly an angel painting rather than a demon one, the tone and emotion in this piece seem more simiar to a ‘deomon’ themed piece. This almost shocking painting was originally made to be the pinnacle of an altarpiece. It was found in the upper part of an altarpiece in the Franciscan Church at Montefore dell’Aso. Perhaps its dramatic scene is what helped make it such a focus in the altarpiece. Carlo Crivelli was a very talented and detail oriented artist. His delicate brushwork and his almost strange looking realism make this painting look so realistic. There are two specific elements that the artist took special care to include which make the horror of this piece seem so real. First, his depiction of Christ’s wounds are extremely life-like. He did not try to idealize, or soften the gore or pain just because it was on christ. He also made christ’s skin a grayish green color. While a bit gruesome and creepy, his colorless body made up of only skin and bones, paints a quite uncomfortable image of a dead christ. Apart from the depiction of christ, Crivelli took special care in accurately portraying the sorrow, suffering, and sheer horror on the small angels faces. In many other paintings of young child-like angels they are portrayed happy, care-free, and even mischevious. However, this painting shows what otherwise would be cute little angels, in pure agony. You cant help but frown along with them when you see the angel’s faces.
