In 14th and 15th century Tuscany and Umbria, angels appeared everywhere in sacred art.
Benedetto Bonfigli, Angels with Roses, Church of San Francesco al Prato, Perugia, circa 1466
Detail from a painting by Lorenzo de Niccolo, early 1400s, Santa Croce Church, Florence
Donatello, Tabernacle of the Annunciation, 1433, Santa Croce Church, Florence
Rosello di Jacapo Franchi, St. Bernardino of Siena with angels and donors. A giant saint, a smaller angel, and the tiny humble donor who commissioned the painting!
And a Renaissance-styled angel from the glorious exterior of Florence’s Duomo, completed in Victorian times, around 1880.
In the third chapter, “Bodies and Voices: Annunciation and Heavenly Harmonies,” Gill considers angelic communication as epitomized in a subject dear to Renaissance artists, the Annunciation. She also discusses examples of angelic musicians, including those so commonly seen in later medieval paintings. An extensive digression at the end of the chapter focuses on the philosophy of Pico della Mirandola, especially his debt to Kabbalistic sources about angels.
Very Interesting. Yes, these images so often appear in paintings of the Annunciation. Thank you!