Yes, you are right. If you ever get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, check out the contemporary-to-the-Greeks sculpture. I won't spoil the surprise, but I'll tell you that other people had three dimensions wired before the Greeks copied them, and they were BETTER. <G>
Angels are interesting.
It all started with the idea of a spiritual essence. This was communicated with the use of visual clues; for example the most important figure in the painting is the largest figure, and so on down. (Remember, most people were illiterate, and the only pictures they ever saw in their lives were inside churches)
The first visual clue was a "glow" around the holy person's head. This evolved into a two dimensional representation of the glow, which was a flat plate-like image surrounding the head.
The flat plate-like image became more ornate as time went on, and then instead of a two dimensional flat image, it became what has evolved into what is now called a halo; a floating ring above the head.
Same with angels. The artist wanted to communicate the idea that there was a spiritual essence to these holy beings, and so he (whoever was the first dood to do it) simply put a set of wings on the human body, implying the ability to fly, a "supernatural" ability for a flesh and blood human, but no problem for a spiritual entity. The problem came when theologians decided that the artist's idea for visual representation of the nature of the spirit was in fact the actual nature of the spirit. That's why angels have halos and wings. |
