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Zachary Shay

4/17/11

Age of Love and Reason

Angels essay

The Depiction of Angels in Loras College Books of Hours

Medieval texts are full of depictions of religious people and events in the margins. In many of

these images there are angels either in the background or the foreground of the paintings. Loras

College has an impressive collection of religious texts from the high and late middle ages. Two of the

most ornate are a Flemish Book of Hours and a French Book of Hours. Both the Flemish and the French

Books of Hours depicts angels as messengers of God as well as ones who bestow the authority of God on

people.

In the bible angels are most notably mentioned as messengers of the word of God. It is an angel

who tells Abraham that it is not God’s will to kill Isaac, but to sacrifice the ram that was tangled in the

bush. Again it was an angel that delivered to Mary that she was to bear Christ. Finally the angels

declared the good news of the birth of Christ to the shepherds. The depiction of angels as messengers

of God is a repeated theme in the French and Flemish books of hours held in the Loras College Rare

Books Collection. Note here a page from the Flemish book of hours you see the angel holding a banner

with words on it, presenting it to the virgin Mary with the dove representing the Holy Spirit descending

upon her. This appears to be a depiction of the annunciation. The angel is bringing her the news that

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God has chosen her as the mother of the son of God. In the French book of hours, there is a depiction of

an angel dictating scripture to the gospel writer Mathew. Such a depiction is interesting to a modern

audience influenced by historical criticism and the idea that the message of scripture was mediated

through human influences, for it presents the writer as a passive recipient of revelation sent directly by

God through an angel.

Finally there is another image in the French book of hours showing angels proclaiming the birth

of Christ to the shepherds They are again relaying a message from

God, this time the message is a physical message written on parchment. It is interesting to note the

expressions on the faces of the angles. They are wearing solemn expressions which do not match the

joyous nature of the message that they are proclaiming because angels were thought to be emotionless.

This emotionless expression is shared by many of the other depictions of angels in these two medieval

works.

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Their second role as they are depicted in these images is as dispensers of heavenly authority.

This painting form the French book of hours shows the

angels swooping in from either side to lay a crown on the Blessed Virgin Mary’s head. Mary is known as

the Queen of Heaven. During the 15th century, when this book was produced, Marian devotion was

widely popular. The use of angels in this picture is to legitimize the claim that Mary has to divine power.

The angels are crowning her with a crown, representing her special spiritual status as the Queen of

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Heaven. However what is very interesting about this

picture is that after Mary is crowned with her divine power, she bows to the pope. This image reflects

the papal claim that the Pope is the vicar of Christ, but it also implicitly subordinates Mary to the papal

authority. This painting intends to show that the power of the Church is divine and bestowed by Mary,

the queen of heaven and the angelic servants of the Lord.

Both the French and the Flemish book of hours reveal some very interesting things about the

way that angels are depicted in medieval texts and art. They are seen as they have traditionally seen, as

messengers as well as being seen now as ones who bestow the authority of Heaven on Mary and also

the Church.