The image of angels | 3

 However, more often the basis was still the figure of an angel (in the usual sense of the word for us), to which the other three heads joined. Sometimes, in an effort to emphasize the special nature of the tetramorph and, possibly, downplay its monstrousness, the masters tried to disguise the three animal mouths, drawing them, for example, as part of the cherub's hairstyle.

 However, not all tetramorphs are constructed on the basis of the human figure. There are many images where they appear in animal guise - as bull-like beasts with four different heads, wings and arms growing directly from the body, or as a winged hybrid with four legs and four heads, which rather resembles not a living creature, but an object of temple utensils.

 Since the 12th century, such Divine monsters have sometimes been opposed to devilish ones, for example, the beast with seven heads and ten horns, which in the Revelation of John the Theologian serves as a throne for the Babylonian harlot. This is how an allegorical image of the Church appears riding on a tetramorph - a hybrid of man, lion, calf and eagle. In this context, it symbolizes the testimonies of the four Gospels upon which Christian teaching is based.

 Along with the images of chimerical creatures, there were also illustrations with four separate angelic beasts. In the New Testament Revelation of John the Evangelist, the tetramorphs from the vision of Ezekiel are reinterpreted and "disintegrated" into separate "animals":

 “… In the middle of the throne and around the throne are four animals, full of eyes in front and behind. And the first animal was like a lion, and the second animal was like a calf, and the third animal had a face like a man, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle. And each of the four animals had six wings around, and inside they were full of eyes; and they have no rest day or night, crying out: holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, is, and is coming ”(Rev. 4: 6-9).

 In the Christian tradition, these images have been interpreted as symbols of the four evangelists. According to the most common version, the angel stands for Matthew, the lion stands for Mark, the bull stands for Luke, and the eagle stands for John. At the same time, in some images, four beings "merged" into a tetramorph in order to emphasize the idea of ​​the unity of the apostolic testimonies of Christ.

 For example, in the generalized image of the Evangelists, we see zoomorphic motifs: a bearded man has a pair of human legs shod in sandals, but in front, as if from behind a screen, eagle and lion paws and bull's hooves hang down.

 In one body, dissimilar elements are fused, which makes it look like the tetramorph from the vision of Ezekiel.

 On other images common since the beginning of the 5th century, the symbols of the evangelists are not at all anthropomorphic. So, on the mosaic of the apse of the Roman basilica of Santa Pudenziana, we see Mark the lion in human clothing with wings behind his back. In the Middle Ages, they will appear in both zoomorphic and anthropomorphic symbols of the evangelists, demonstrating their angelic essence. And in the Spanish manuscripts of the Apocalypse with the interpretation of Beat Liebansky (VIII century), the biographers of Christ were sometimes portrayed with wheels instead of legs.

 Living fire and face with wings: angelic ranks

 Having systematized the visions of Ezekiel and other biblical testimonies, the theologian of the 5th-6th centuries Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite created a classification of nine angelic orders. Contemplating the throne of the Most High "cherubim" he put in second place after the fiery "seraphim", personifying the flame of Divine love. Then came the "thrones" bearing the throne of the Lord.

 Then came the “dominions” constantly rising in their grandeur, powerful and godlike “forces” wielding the spiritual energy of “power”, responsible for the sacred order of “chiefs”, ruling the lower rank “archangels” and transmitting divine revelations to people “angels”.

 Under the influence of the theology of the Areopagite and other theologians, artists began to write the messengers of heaven in a differentiated manner, taking into account their rank. Seraphim were depicted with four or six fiery wings, and sometimes, instead of flame, illustrators simply painted their plumage in red, and then these characters resembled exotic birds.

 Cherubim were represented in the same way, only without fire, and sometimes their legs and arms, and sometimes their face were completely hidden by giant wings. Thrones could be drawn as winged wheels studded with eyes, or as anthropomorphic creatures with a huge throne in hand.

 The rest of the ranks were usually depicted as similar to the previous ones. Visual hierarchies arose: the angelic groups tried to show them in the form of different beings seated in succession in the nine heavens (sometimes they drew the tenth "shelf" - the place of the absent Lucifer and his henchmen). Such images existed not only in the West, but also in the Orthodox icon: in one of them we see all nine angelic ranks depicted in completely different ways.

 Eros, putti and arquebusiers: the cute angel

 The ancient image of Eros had a huge impact on early Christian art. A small winged creature with a bow became a "model" for drawings of a soul soaring into the sky.

 In the Middle Ages, the iconography of the God of Love - a distant descendant of the ancient Eros - thanks to the spread of his image in fiction (for example, in the "Novel of the Rose" of the 13th century), began to approach the image of Christ.

 He was painted with a bow and arrow, and his head was decorated with a crown or even a colored halo that "rhymed" with wings similar to those of an angel. Eros could be depicted in a mandorla, although usually she surrounds only the figure of God or the Virgin Mary. To show the similarity of love for the Lord and for one's neighbor, Christ was sometimes written with a coal in his hand (a typical attribute of Cupid - a symbol of passion burning in the heart) or even piercing the hearts of his followers with arrows.

 In the Renaissance, these motives develop. Now, like Eros, putti were painted - winged babies with halos, which in different contexts could denote the souls of the departed, serve as an allegory of death and resurrection, and also act as angels.

 On the canvases of the Baroque artists, winged toddlers, dressed to smithereens, resembling putti - older, but with an androgynous appearance, ruddy cheeks and bare butts - play musical instruments.

 And in colonial South America, the angels were given arquebuses, anointed and dressed up in the latest fashion, and they were “enrolled” in the detachment of God's army. However, the move is not new: already in the Middle Ages, the Archangel of the heavenly army, the Archangel Michael was portrayed in full military clothing and with weapons.

 Modern angels

 In the era of classicism, artists sang the image of the majestic heavenly messenger, ranging from an antique languid youth in a toga to a brutal knight. However, suddenly a new character appeared - an angel-woman: she was portrayed both as a restrained, in the spirit of that time, lady, and as a charming winged charming lady.

 Now this image looks absolutely natural, but before the Victorian era, it would not have occurred to anyone to draw the messenger of heaven in this way. Most likely, such a type appeared as a result of the mistake of artists who often saw in cemetery sculpture a similar figure of a soul with wings and did not pay attention to the context of traditional sacred art.

 But in the 20th century this stereotype was broken too. Dali, Picasso, Kandinsky, Chagall wrote heavenly messengers who invariably replenished the Divine host, which had already grown over two millennia. But perhaps the most famous image in this series was created in 1920 by the German artist Paul Klee. His "Angel of History" served as a starting point for the philosopher Walter Benjamin, who offered his interpretation of world progress. He saw in an unusual figure with his hands raised up, as if at gunpoint, not good news, but a prophecy of catastrophe and destruction of a familiar way of life by an inhuman war:“This is what the angel of history should look like. His face is turned to the past. Where there is a chain of upcoming events for us, there he sees a continuous catastrophe, constantly piling up the ruins over the ruins and dumping it all at his feet. He would have stayed to raise the dead and blind the debris. But a gusty wind rushing from paradise fills his wings with such force that he can no longer fold them. The wind carries him uncontrollably into the future, to which his back is turned, while the mountain of debris in front of him rises to the sky. What we call progress is this flurry. "Today in popular culture there are several images of angels at once. The type of the celestial warrior, which dates back to medieval art, has become popular, which can now be found in fantasy literature and computer games. Not less often, the messenger appears in the form of a beautiful woman, as if descended from a picture of the Pre-Raphaelites. The wingless bearded angel, the many-headed chimera angel, the plump angel Eros - the merciless wind of art progress carries them deeper and deeper into the past, which is now remembered only by art historians and those interested - such as you and me.