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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: 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.)
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 [Illustration: 33 The Three Archangels (from an ancient
Greek picture)]
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.