This Angel Ornament is about 5 inches tall. She has real feathered wings. Both wings have a wing feather and a down feather. The wing feather provides support while the down feather gives it that full fluffy angelic look. The angel is made of soft white cloth material. She appears to be wearing a robe with just her cloth feet showing and a white sparkling shawl/hood and the same sparkling material around the hem of the robe. In her hands she is holding a soft cloth star that has a snowflake on it that is made of plastic beads. She is perfect for hanging on the tree or anywhere you would like the angel to watch over you. Select this link to view our Christmas Ornaments.
Angels.
Literally messengers, these emissaries of God play an important role in the Nativity and subsequent Christmas celebrations through the ages. It is the angel Gabriel, who begins the Nativity story by his appearance in ancient Palestine to announce a remarkable pair of births. To an elderly couple, beyond the normal years of parenthood, he announces that they will have a son who is to be called John (later known as the Baptist). To a young virgin, Mary, kin to the first couple, Gabriel announces that she has found favor with God and will bear a child engendered by the Holy Spirit. In order that Joseph, Mary’s betrothed, does not repudiate her, the angel fills him in on the divine secret. When, at length, the child is born in Bethlehem, a great host of angels announces the news to shepherds in nearby fields. When the local ruler, Herod, appears bent on murdering the child, an angel warns the family to flee to Egypt and advises them later that it is safe to return. Select this link to view our Christmas Gifts.
Angels have long been symbols of Christmas in the form of ornaments, especially as tree toppers. Christmas cookies are baked in angel shapes. In Lithuania the traditional wafer is termed bread of the angels. They have always been a popular theme on Christmas cards and are indispensable in manger scenes where they hover over the stable. Henry Suso dreamt that angels came to comfort him, took him by the hand and led him in a dance while one sang “In Dolci Jubilo.” When he woke he wrote the music down in the form of a carol which became “Good Christian Men Rejoice”. Angels have been the subject of Christmas music in many lands, particularly in their role as annunciators of the birth of Jesus to the shepherds. From France came Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes, which has been translated into English as “Angels From The Realms of Glory.” From Moravia we have “Angels and Shepherds.” From England, “Angels We Have Heard on High“, “Hark The Herald Angels Sing“, and “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night.” American angel carols include “It Came Upon The Midnight Clear.” Select this link to view our Angel Ornaments.
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. Select this link to view our Unique Angel Gifts.