The angel and Balaam

The French artist James Jacques Joseph Tissot (1836-1902) has captured the crucial moment in the Old Testament story of Balaam. Balaam is punishing his donkey for refusing to move, the donkey speaks, and Balaam becomes aware of the angel's presence.

An angel in the fiery furnace

When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were consigned by Nebuchadnezzar II to the fiery furnace for refusing to renounce their faith, God answered their prayers for protection by sending an angel. The English painter Simeon Solomon shows this fourth presence as a powerful entity of guardianship and comfort.

El Greco: the Assumption of Mary

El Greco's painting shows a powerful angel assisting Mary on her journey to Heaven. Belief in the Assumption of Mary is part of the faiths of Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican church.

Master of the Housebook: Three angels

Little is known of the Master of the House Book in the Rhenish Palatinate, who worked in the late 15th century. His work is believed by some to have influenced Albrecht Dürer.

Josse Lieferinxe: St Michael slaying the dragon

Josse Lieferinxe (who worked ca 1493 - 1508), also known as the Master of St. Sebastian, shows an appropriately commanding vision of St Michael. What I find striking is that Michael's wings are barely visible, almost an afterthought.

Jan van Eyck: Angel of the Annunciation

Jan van Eyck's painting of Gabriel appearing to Mary is a back panel of the Ghent Altarpiece, c. 1432.

Dürer: The Feast of the Rose Garlands

The painting shown above, The Feast of the Rose Garlands, was made by Albrecht Dürer in 1506. It is a painting for the altar of a chapel in Venice's San Bartolomeo all'Isola, commissioned by German merchants who lived in the area.

Gustave Doré: Empyrean

The illustration above shows Gustave Doré's (1832-83) concept of the Empyrean in Dante's Divine Comedy, the highest heaven. Here, Beatrice and Dante are shown having come face to face with God.