The original inspirations for the angelic hosts were not Christian. They were pagan back in the 8th century. There was a Greek version Nike, the Winged Victory and the various renderings of the winged eros. Then the Roman version of Venus with Cupid on her lap and the image of the Virgin Mary with Jesus on her lap.
Came the renaissance where theologians and humanitarians didn't focus on angels but when artists began to paint them on church walls, angels became a serious matter. The church didn't believe that angels were sexual and denied that the male phallus was redeemable. The clergy had all sex obliterated from the Sistine's naked figures applying little patches of blue to the offending parts.
Shades of the renaissance: Modern times found D.H. Lawrence annoyed when English police closed down his exhibition of nude paintings. He vented his outrage with verse:
"Fig trees don't grow in my native land,
There's never a fig leaf near at hand
when I want one. So I did without.
And that's what all the row's about."
And he added,
"A fig leaf, or if you cannot find it,
a wreath of English mist with nothing behind it!
(Page 157)
ANGELS
AN ENDANGERED SPECIES
MALCOLM GODWIN
