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# The Renaissance Lied to You Because Angels Don't Have Wings
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/the-renaissance-lied-to-you-because-angels-dont-have-wings/
- Published: 2013-12-20T23:28:19.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:34:07.000Z
- Description: Angels do not have wings, says a leading Catholic Church "angeologist." Cue gasps.
- Author: Hrag Vartanian
- Tags: Opinion, mythology, Renaissance, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 06:59 (2012, 2013, part 2)

![Rafael is one of the BIGGEST LIARS EVER! (via Wikipedia)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2013/12/rafael_-_madonna_sixtina_640.jpg)

Raphael is one of the BIGGEST LIARS EVER! Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna” (1512) (via Wikipedia)

Just in time for the holidays, Canada’s [*Globe and Mail* newspaper reports](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/angels-dont-have-wings-catholic-church-expert-says/article16074017/?ref=hyperallergic.com):

> … this week, a leading Catholic Church “angeologist” tried to put an end to the angel-with-wings business – an imagery that has been reinforced, as he explained, by New Age movements where depictions of angels with wings is common.  
>  
> Angels do not have wings – nor do they look like cherubs, Rev. Renzo Lavatori told Agence France-Presse at a conference in Rome.  
>  
> “You do not see angels so much as feel their presence,” he said.  
>  
> “They are a bit like sunlight that refracts on you through a crystal vase,” he added.

So, there you have it. [Michelangelo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel%5F%28Michelangelo%29?ref=hyperallergic.com), Raphael, [Leonardo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annunciation%5F%28Leonardo%29?ref=hyperallergic.com) — all of those Renaissance phonies (and LIARS!), in fact — have been misrepresenting the “reality” of the angel to us. I sense Dan Brown sitting in a cafe somewhere, plotting a sequel to *The Da Vinci Code* that will be a takedown of those Renaissance propagandists, and may I suggest *Clipped Wings*™ as a great title.

Interesting bit about the sunlight, though, because that’s often something depicted in Renaissance-era paintings as a metaphor for the virgin birth (i.e. God’s “light” penetrating the Virgin Mary/glass vase, without “compromising” her/the vase). A good example of this symbolism comes in Fra Filippo Lippi’s “Annunciation” (1442) in Florence’s Basilica di San Lorenzo:

![Fra Lippi's "The Annunciation" (1442) (via thelittlelighthousekeeper.blogspot.com)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2013/12/lippi6-640.jpg)

Fra Fillippo Lippi’s “The Annunciation” (1442) with glass vase detail inset (via thelittlelighthousekeeper.blogspot.com)

By the way, why is this info about angels and wings important? Well, according to recent polls, [more Americans believe in angels](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/poll-nearly-8-in-10-americans-believe-in-angels/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (77%) than [evolution](http://www.gallup.com/poll/155003/hold-creationist-view-human-origins.aspx?ref=hyperallergic.com) (47%) or [global warming](http://environment.yale.edu/climate-communication/article/Climate-Beliefs-September-2012/?ref=hyperallergic.com) (70%). On that note, we can all probably use a drink of spiked eggnog about now.