Medium
gouache over graphite
Dimensions
image: 27 × 23 cm · sheet: 30.8 × 27.8 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
The Fanny Tewksbury King Collection
Accession Number
1956.722
Tags
male
About this artwork
Dewing’s small, densely packed composition of four singing angels alludes to depictions of angels playing musical instruments found in 14th-century medieval manuscripts. Angels were traditionally shown playing stringed instruments, whose delicate tones were thought to lift the mind to spiritual matters. The harp, as depicted here, was the instrument most closely associated with heavenly music. With the continuous circling of halos and harps, Dewing suggested a hypnotic, celestial melody.