Father Renzo Lavatori, renowned and widely published ‘angelologist’, said recently during a formal debate on angelic art that angel’s don’t have wings.
Ask anyone to draw a picture of an angel and the odds are whatever they illustrate will have a big pair of fluffy, feathery wings.
According to an expert on the subject that common depiction of them is inaccurate.
Father Renzo Lavatori, renowned and widely published ‘angelologist’, said recently during a formal debate on angelic art that angel’s don’t have wings.
Rather, "They are a bit like sunlight that refracts on you through a crystal vase."
The confusion likely came about because of how loosely they were described early on.
An art historian involved in the conference offered that the first appearance of the word ‘angelo’ dates back 3000 years to Greek Mycenaean times and translates as messenger.
Angels have also been described as being ‘pure souls’ lacking a solid physical form.
It’s surmised that given the non-specific wording used to characterize them, artists just went wild in their imagining of them.
Lavatori stressed that while there is certainly a place for that type of representation, angels should not be confused with winged cherubs.
Understanding what angels are and their role in religion is particularly important in a world brimming with what he called ‘diabolical forces’.
