The concept of heavenly beings, who we refer to as ‘angels’, is one that has fascinated human beings since centuries. Almost all significant religious texts have mentioned the existence of these celestial beings, even alluding to a description of their appearance, so that one visualises them as luminous beings with wings who may or may not resemble human beings, but who are nonetheless beautiful, fascinating entities.

There is a visual stereotype of angels that one witnesses in the work of artists, and this vision seems to have reached us through many centuries, initiated by the art work of Egyptians and then the Greeks, who had conjured a large array of super human beings considering them to be gods and goddesses. Many ancient Greek sculptures show winged creatures, with perfect anatomies, and it is these figures which seem to provide a blueprint for the concept of celestial beings appearing later in Christian and Byzantine art. It was focused mainly on decorating churches.

Renaissance artists also reveled in the portrayal of religious themes, and artists like Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and others presented biblical stories in their paintings wherein angelic creatures appeared.

The concept of angels may not be depicted commonly in recent times, but one does come across their visual representation every now and then. For example, a contemporary European artist of German origin now living in Paris, and who has a fascination with the concept of angels, is Elvira Amerhein. Her paintings ‘Flower angel’, and ‘In truth there is love’, are examples of the charming sensitivity with which she creates her angelic beings. They are beautiful, youthful and yet very human in appearance, though of course the distinguishing features are the delicate wings.

Amongst Pakistani artists, there are also a few who have touched upon the concept of angels in their artwork. For example, Anwar Saeed’s sensitive drawing titled, ‘Becoming an angel, growing a wing’, created in the 1980s, was an uncanny artwork in which the artist made a self-portrait, showing his right arm sprouting a wing like that of an angel.

Soon after, he was to encounter a drastic event wherein his friend, the late artist Zahoorul Akhlaque was murdered in his presence. Saeed himself was injured in the episode and lost the use of his right arm because of a bullet injury, but mercifully his life was spared. It was much later that his arm was healed, but the psychological impact of this lasted much longer. It is still eerie to recall the drawing of the winged arm and its hidden meaning.

R. M. Naeem is another Pakistani artist who has explored the mystical nature of human beings, and has painted his vision of other worldly beings. Then, there is Ali Kazim, a gifted young artist, who has also depicted celestial creatures and one recalls his earlier work, where plant, animal, human and angel-like figures appeared as related entities.

Young artist Mudassar Manzoor has also delved into the mystical side of human beings, sometimes showing them as winged, angelic beings in his richly coloured and rather immaculate miniature paintings.

In a world where earthly realities often tend to become rather grim, many of us long for the solace of being protected by heavenly guardians. Our spiritual faith reinforces our imagination, and every now and then, we see artists amongst us giving tangible form to this age-old concept and belief.