This Elegant African American Angels
is 5.5 inches tall and 3 inches wide. The black angel is wearing a white shirt with silver designs on her cuffs, shirt bottom, and neckline. This African American People Ornament is wearing a white skirt with silver designs at its bottom. The cute black angel has white wings on her back and is wearing silver sandals. These Angel Ornaments are holding a silver mandolin in her hands.
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According to many religions an angel is a spiritual being created by God. According to religious tradition, angels live in heaven and act as God’s servants and as messengers between God and man. They also serve as guardians of individuals and nations. Angels traditionally are pictured as have a human body and wings. Poets and artists have portrayed angels as symbols of innocence or virtue. Many religions have teachings about angels or similar beings. In some primitive religions, legends tell of bright, powerful spirits that appear in dreams and visions and protect people or tribes. In Hinduism and Buddhism many major gods are accompanied by a band or court of spiritual beings. Judaism, Christianity and Islam developed the most elaborate doctrines about angels. These religions recognize an order of beings in which angels rank above man but under god. God is all powerful and man is sometimes portrayed as in God’s image. In some traditions, Satan and other fallen angels rebel against this order.
The concept of angels with a human body and wings began in the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament and in Christianity. Later tradition refers to many archangels, or angels of higher rank, including Saint Michael. Christian doctrine regarding angels reached full development during the AD 1100’s and 1200’s, especially in the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas believed angels were necessary to fill the gap between God and man. He taught that countless numbers of angels existed and that they were immortal. According to Aquinas, angels knew everything except what depended on human choice and what only God knew. The concept of angels strongly influenced Paradise Lost by John Milton. It includes a version of Satan’s fall and Adam and Eve’s expulsion from paradise. The Islamic belief in angels resembles that of Judaism and Christianity. These three faiths place angels near God and give special duties to some.
A Cherub.
A cherub is an angel of great knowledge and a symbol of heavenly wisdom or justice. The plural of cherub is cherubim. The cherubim rank just below the order of angels called the seraphim. In art the cherubim are usually represented by children’s heads, with one, two or three pairs of wings. In the earliest religious paintings they have thoughtful and intelligent faces. The early painters also followed strict rules for color schemes when representing cherubim. In a picture of angels in circles, called a “Glory of Angels”, the second circle, that of the cherubim, was always blue. This color stood for light and knowledge. The inner circle, that of the seraphim, was red. Later artists painted the angels with more freedom. Such paintings as the Sistine Madonna by Raphael and “Coronation of the virgin” by Perugino show this change. In the Raphael picture, the Madonna stands on clouds made up of heads of many cherubim. At the base of the picture rest two cherubim which are noted for the serious beauty of their faces. In the Perugino picture, the floating cherubim have wings of various colors. Another painting by Perugino, “Assumption of the virgin”, also contains famous cherubim. Check out our Unique Christmas Ornaments for the holidays.
