Editing Angels in art (section)

==Jewish art==
Mainstream Rabbinic Judaism discourages focus from being placed on angels due to fears about idolatry and a desire to curtail any inclinations to polytheism. As such, many Jews do not make or display artworks of angels.<ref name=":4" /> However, such art does exist, and has been consistently made throughout Rabbinic history, for example as in the [[Dura-Europos synagogue|Dura Europos synagogue]], where wingless humanoid angels dressed like Persians appear, as well as winged humanoids.<ref name=":5" /> Overall, if angel art is popular in a time and place, there will be Jewish art that depicts angels as well.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/community/articles/angels-in-judaica |title=Angels in Judaica}}</ref> Contemporary resistance and ignorance regarding angels in Judaism, and specifically in Jewish art, may partially stem from the current strong association between angels and Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Angels in antiquity: Judaism’s long relationship with heaven’s haloed helpers |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/angels-in-antiquity-judaisms-long-relationship-with-heavens-haloed-helpers/ |website=Times of Israel}}</ref>
[[File:Medieval_amulet_to_protect_mother_and_child._Wellcome_M0008070.jpg|alt=Medieval amulet to protect mother and child. Wellcome M0008070|thumb|Medieval Jewish amulet designed to ward off Lilith, depicting [[Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof]].]]
[[Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof|Sanoi, Sansoni, and Samanglif]] (also spelled Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof) are three angels that protect newborns. Depictions of them as small, non-human creatures occur on amulets and have had a small resurgence in popularity in recent years.<ref name=":4" /> They are associated with the [[Alphabet of Ben Sira]], where they attempt to retrieve [[Lilith]] after she flees from Adam. When they cannot, they make her promise not to harm newborns if they are protecting them. The use of their names in amulets for children predates the story, and that was likely intended to explain an existing custom.<ref>{{Cite web |last=מלול |first=חן |date=2020-02-12 |title=Who Are You, Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof? |url=https://blog.nli.org.il/en/djm_sen-san-sem/ |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=The Librarians |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Cherub]]im in their classic Jewish description are typically creatures with features of a human, lion, bird, and cattle in some combination. The variety of imagery here was common in the Ancient Near East,<ref name=":5" /> and draws on that of the [[lamassu]]. The name cherub may come from that connection. It also draws on the imagery of the [[sphinx]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Cherubim in art {{!}} Sefaria |url=https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/521236?lang=bi |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=sefaria.org}}</ref> The descriptions of cherubim overall vary.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Kind of Creatures Are the Cherubim? |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/what-kind-of-creatures-are-the-cherubim |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=thetorah.com}}</ref> Similarly, the imagery used for seraphim derives from the [[uraeus]], which appeared in ancient carvings from Judah. It particularly occurred on [[Seal (emblem)|seals]], where it was invoked as a protective symbol.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-12-18 |title=The Seraphim Through the Eyes of Isaiah » Transpositions |url=https://www.transpositions.co.uk/seraphim-eyes-isaiah/ |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=Transpositions |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Seraphim  |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/the-seraphim |access-date=2024-06-24 |website=thetorah.com}}</ref>

While winged humanoid angels are strongly associated with Christianity, some academics argue that rather than Judaism occasionally adopting this imagery from Christianity, Christianity adopted it from Judaism. In text, humanoid beings with wings and no other unusual features appear as early as the writing of [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]] 5:5–11. The most common wings are feathered, but occasionally winged humanoid angels in Jewish art have been depicted with butterfly wings.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Landsberger |first=Franz |date=1947 |title=The Origin of the Winged Angel in Jewish Art |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23506466 |journal=Hebrew Union College Annual |volume=20 |pages=227–254 |jstor=23506468 |issn=0360-9049}}</ref> Winged angels are sometimes also depicted with [[Halo (religious iconography)|halos]].<ref name=":6">{{Citation |last=Buda |first=Zsófia |title=Heavenly Envoys: Angels in Jewish Art  |date=2011-10-01  |pages=117–134 |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9786155053238-009/html?lang=en |access-date=2024-06-25 |publisher=Central European University Press |language=en |doi=10.1515/9786155053238-009/html?lang=en |isbn=978-615-5053-23-8}}</ref>

Angels are sometimes depicted as birds without human features.<ref name=":6" />

Humanoid angels appear in Ethiopian Jewish art traditions, which are traditionally non-Rabbinic.<ref name=":4" />

Many well-known pop culture depictions of angels in the West come from the work of Jewish writers.<ref name=":4" />