In the 19th century artists stopped depicting the heavenly creatures known from the Bible that had been popular in art since the Middle Ages. Whether divine messenger, keeper to the keys of the kingdom, or guardian angel, the Enlightenment called into question the very existence of angels, and thus presented artists with a problem. How were they now supposed to credibly personify heaven and hell?
The curators invite the public to explore this question through subjective association, with works in the collection and from other collections, including pictures by Peter von Cornelius, Adolph von Menzel, Fritz von Uhde, James Lee Byars, and others.
![Masterpiece [Re]discovery 2022. Photo: Ben Fisher Photography, courtesy of Masterpiece London](http://www.apollo-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/MPL2022_4263.jpg)
Suzanne Valadon’s shifting gaze