Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/545

Rh ANGELOPOLI 4So ANGELS he ilieil in the odour of sanctity on the loth of June of the same year. Angelo (Jhireno is the author, at Iciust in great part, of the "Chronica septeni tribu- lationuni Orilinis Minoruni", which records the perse- cutions suffered by the "Spirituals", beginning with the innovations made iluring St. Francis' sojourn in the East, and continuing under Klias, Crescent ius, and Honaventure. This work is characterized by heroic endurance; but is tinged with bias and bitter- ness. .Vnotlier work of . gelo's that deserves mention is the " Dechiratio regula; Minorum." Acl.i SS., Julv, III. .■■>(iil-r)7ll; Kmil.l-:. Anhif jiir LiUeralur nwl KinhrnafsihMlf (/.■» Millrlallerii, (lierlin, 1S85), I, 507- .'•,(■.«: iissiijll, 108-r>4, L'49-3^7; (ls.s7i 111. .>«-r.L>:i: IV, 1-190: Tocco, I.iresia nel medio evo U'I'ti m.-, IsMi; V kh- hlNG, AnnaUa Minorum. 1289. ct pasKif:i: I i m mi •.-. i I, r. .„,.., II. Hemadini .Uiuitani. (Uoiiic. 1902i -I 'i, i n.i h, /■'■!! rdar zur Srktn»je»chichte (his Miltelaltrrt iMuiii.l,, Is'.lin, i.i. II. 417; Jkilkh in Kirchtnki., •.. v. Spirilmiten. Stephen M. Donov. . Angelopoli. See Tl.cal.. Angels, K.vriLY Chuistiam Hei're.setatioxs ok. — .iigi'ls were seldom represented in Christian art before Constantino. The oldest fresco in which an angel appears is the Annunciation scene (second century) of the cemetery of St. Priscilla. A third- century painting of the same subject wjis discovered by Wilpert in the cemetery of Sts. Peter and Mar- cellinus; in both representations the Archangel (ia- briel is depicted in human form, robed in tunic and pallium. The "flood Angel" (angelus bomi.i) of the fourth-century syncretistic fresco representing the judgment of Vibia is also depicted in human form, dressed as a sacred personage. The winged angel, for which abundant scriptural references could be adduced, does not apjwar in pre-Constantinian Christian art, for the reason, pronably, that such figures might too readily recall certain favourite subjects of classic art. . other fact worthy of note angel (Cabrol, Diet. d'.rch. Chr6t., col. L'IKi sqq.). The oldest existing examples of winged angels are seen in some bas-reliefs of Carthage and a representa- tion on ivorj' of St. .Michael, both attributed to the fourth century. The latter, part of a dijjtyrli in ilie in this regard is that angels in this first jieriod of Christian art are never represented unless historically neces-sary, as in the Annunciation scenes referred to — and not always even then. In a third-century fresco of the Hebrew children in the furnace, for instance, in the cemetery of St. Priscilla, a dove takes the place of the angel, while a fourth-century rep- resentation of the same subject, in the cccnu'terium majus, substitutes the hand of God for the heavenly messenger. From the reign of Constantino a new type of angel, with wings, appears in Christian art. The four angels with spears on the ciborium of the Lateral! Basilica (Lib. Pont., I, 172) were i)robably of this order. This innovation was evidently sug- gested liy the "Victories", and similar figures of cla.ssic art; but the danger of idolatrous .suggestion in such figures wsis now remote, and historic art, which gradually replaced .symbolic, demanded angels with wings. Certain (inostic sculptures seem to mark the transition from the classic Victory to the winged British Museum, shows the Archangel Michael stand- ing on thcuppersteps of an architectonically adorned doorway, with a staff in one hand and a globe sur- mounted by a cross in t ho ot her. The figtire is admiral ily executed. A second development in the artistic con- ception of angels is marked in the Annunciation scene (fifth centurj') depicted on the triumphal arch of St. .Mary .Major's. Inlike the same subject in the cata- combs, the Angel Gabriel is .soaring through the air to- wards Mary, who isseated in the midst of attendant winged angels. From the fifth centurj- angels became a favourite subject in Christian art, no longer merely as figures demanded to complete a historical scene, but very often as attendants on Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin. The mosaic of St. Mary Major's mentioned above, as well as two mosaics of St. .pollinare Nuoo and St. Vitale (sixth century), Ravenna, are ex- amples of angels in this character. The Arch- angels Michael and Gabriel dressed in the militan,- chlamys and bearing military standards inscribed with the word .If/i'o.s (holy) are represented in mosaics at St. A|M)llinarc in Cla.sse, liavenna. The llierarchia c(r/c.s(i.s of pseudo-Dionysius exercised an important influence on the artistic conception of angels from the sixth centurj'. Prior to that time, it is true, a distinction was made between different categories of the angelic host, but now the relations of angels to God were represented in the East after the man- ner of the various grades of court functionaries ren- dering their homage to the Emperor. Ciri.rs oi' Anop;ls. — Earlj' Christian literature, like early Christian art, contains few references to angels. This fact is easily accounted for by the circum- stances of the time, for with the popular belief in a multitude of deities it was necessarj' to laj' particular emphasis on the unity of God. An otiicial cult in honour of the angels in the first centuries of Chri.s- tianity would have made imminent the danger of their being regarded as inferior divinities. AVilne.ss the vagaries of Gnosticism. Still, there is sufhcient evidence to show that the relations of angels to God were not excluded from Christian teaching. Justin MartjT (.pol., I, vi) states that the "host of CSood angels" was held in the greatest veneration, and his contemporarj', .thenagoras, refers to the duties of angels "whom Ciod appointed to their several posts, to occupy them.selves almut the elements, and the heavens, and the world" (Legatio, x). In the fourth centurj' we find Eusebius of (Vsarea distin- guishing accurately between the cult rendered to