The Angelic Guards

James Barry

1808 · Etching and engraving; fourth state of four · Drawings and Prints

Four angelic beings, reminiscent of similar figures by Michelangelo and Raphael, protect the heavenly realm of Elysium from Tartarus: the dark, ill-defined abyssal zone at right. The largest figure guards a key, while others lean over the edge with spears as a cloaked Gabriel broods with a flaming cross on his forehead. At upper right we are shown historical patrons of the arts—Charles I, Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Cassiodorus, Francis I, and Agrippa—and above them artists who benefited from enlightened support, including Joshua Reynolds, Giles Hussey, Annibale Carracci, and Domenichino. The etching reproduces central figures in Barry’s enormous painting Elysium and Tartarus (1777–83; Society of Arts, London) and was created as a pendant to Divine Justice (see 2016.595).

Artist

James Barry

Date

1808

Medium

Etching and engraving; fourth state of four

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

A. Hyatt Mayor Purchase Fund, Marjorie Phelps Starr Bequest, 2016