Angels National Gallery Pocket Guide

A Closer Look

by Erika Langmuir, National Gallery London

As we look at some of the best known and most engaging religious paintings in the Western tradition, it becomes clear that angels can have many intriguing characteristics--they need not be winged, their gender and age are uncertain, they may not even be good (Satan is a fallen angel). This original Pocket Guide examines the surprisingly complicated history of angels in Christian art.

Genres: Art History

80 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 1999

About the author

Erika Langmuir, OBE, was educated in France and the United States. She has taught at the University of Sussex and held the Chair of Art History at the Open University. She was Head of Education at the National Gallery from 1988–1995.

Reviews

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good, but brief, introduction to angels, with a focus on the way they are portrayed in visual art. The book is nicely illustrated with paintings from the National Gallery in London. The National Gallery seems to have reprinted this book under the title Angels: A Closer Look, but as far as I can tell, the content is the same. Formatting is a bit different (the new volume is slightly larger).