Tuesdays, August 25 - September 15, 2026
6pm - 8pm EST
Admission: $135 / $145 (Paid Patreon members)
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time, but it is highly recommended you attend the classes live for the richest experience.
Of Art and Angels explores the place of angels in Christian cosmology and visual culture, from their earliest textual appearances to their rich afterlives in art. Understood in Catholic tradition as wholly spiritual, non-corporeal beings, angels occupy a privileged position in the hierarchy of creation and are traditionally organized into nine orders, each with distinct functions. They appear as heavenly worshipers, divine messengers, and human guardians—but angelic history also includes rebellion, fall, and evil, beginning with Satan himself.
Although angels are mentioned throughout Scripture, few are named there. Most angelic figures emerge from apocryphal texts, theological writings, and later literature. This course examines biblical foundations alongside influential sources such as the Books of Enoch, the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite and St. Augustine, and major literary works including Dante’s Paradiso and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Representing angels posed a fundamental artistic challenge: how to depict bodiless, sexless spirits. Across centuries, artists resolved this paradox by giving angels visible, winged, humanoid form. Focusing especially on the Medieval and Early Renaissance—an extraordinary period for angel imagery—we will trace how artists visualized both faithful and fallen angels from antiquity through the modern era.
Each of the four weekly meetings features a richly illustrated lecture and guided discussion, culminating in a final project in which participants select an angelic figure, celestial or fallen, and trace its tradition across scripture, literature, and art.
Brenda Edgar is an Art Historian in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to her Morbid Anatomy courses, she offers a free monthly talk series, "Art History Illustrated," at the Cultural Arts Center in New Albany, Indiana. Brenda is also a very busy yoga teacher and continuing education provider. Visit brendaedgar.org to find out more or contact her.
Images:
Crimson Seraph, from prose version of Pèlerinage de vie humaine of Guillaume de Deguileville, Hainaut ca. 1490
Archangel Saint Michael weighing souls, altarpiece of the Last Judgement, Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400–1464)
Tuesdays, August 25 - September 15, 2026
6pm - 8pm EST
Admission: $135 / $145 (Paid Patreon members)
PLEASE NOTE: All classes will also be recorded and archived for students who cannot make that time, but it is highly recommended you attend the classes live for the richest experience.
Of Art and Angels explores the place of angels in Christian cosmology and visual culture, from their earliest textual appearances to their rich afterlives in art. Understood in Catholic tradition as wholly spiritual, non-corporeal beings, angels occupy a privileged position in the hierarchy of creation and are traditionally organized into nine orders, each with distinct functions. They appear as heavenly worshipers, divine messengers, and human guardians—but angelic history also includes rebellion, fall, and evil, beginning with Satan himself.
Although angels are mentioned throughout Scripture, few are named there. Most angelic figures emerge from apocryphal texts, theological writings, and later literature. This course examines biblical foundations alongside influential sources such as the Books of Enoch, the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite and St. Augustine, and major literary works including Dante’s Paradiso and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Representing angels posed a fundamental artistic challenge: how to depict bodiless, sexless spirits. Across centuries, artists resolved this paradox by giving angels visible, winged, humanoid form. Focusing especially on the Medieval and Early Renaissance—an extraordinary period for angel imagery—we will trace how artists visualized both faithful and fallen angels from antiquity through the modern era.
Each of the four weekly meetings features a richly illustrated lecture and guided discussion, culminating in a final project in which participants select an angelic figure, celestial or fallen, and trace its tradition across scripture, literature, and art.
Brenda Edgar is an Art Historian in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to her Morbid Anatomy courses, she offers a free monthly talk series, "Art History Illustrated," at the Cultural Arts Center in New Albany, Indiana. Brenda is also a very busy yoga teacher and continuing education provider. Visit brendaedgar.org to find out more or contact her.
Images:
Crimson Seraph, from prose version of Pèlerinage de vie humaine of Guillaume de Deguileville, Hainaut ca. 1490
Archangel Saint Michael weighing souls, altarpiece of the Last Judgement, Rogier van der Weyden (1399/1400–1464)
