Angels

Celestial Messenger

 

To the south of the Chancel in St. Mary’s Church in Hitchin, is the Guild Chapel and its ceiling has beautifully carved  wooden medieval Angels: Some with gold leaf on their wings, others without. This might have been due to prohibitive cost, so the rest couldn’t be done or their gold leaf has fallen away. For whatever reason, they are still beautiful to look at. It is worth noting that each Angel has a different symbol associated with it. This one has a lute, others have a harp or viol, keys or shields or symbols of the guild who funded their making.

To the north of the Chancel is the Trinity Chapel, and it too has Angels on its ceiling. These seem to be of a different style and none have the gilded wings that the others have in the Guild Chapel. However, they are still beautiful and full of character, with individual hairstyles and worth taking note of. So the next time you are in St. Mary’s Church, Look up!

Angelic Host

angel.jpg

St Mary’s Church in Hitchin is full of little gems such as this angel. I’m not sure if it’s an original or a Victorian reproduction. If it is an original, then I’m surprised it survived the iconoclasts’ destruction; But as Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews pointed out, they only pulled down statues of saints that people prayed to and not angels to which people didn’t pray.

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