| Object Number: | D_EDM_0126 | |
| Date: | 1893 | |
| Category: | Board, Drawings, and Wightwick Manor | |
| Material: | Paper | |
| Dimensions: | Height 830 mm, Width 700 mm |
This compositional study in black and gold for Evelyn De Morgan’s painting ‘Gloria in Excelsis’ can be considered a finished work of art in its own right, which Evelyn would have intended to exhibit and sell. The final oil painting associated with this work is in a private collection. Translated as “Glory to God” the theme of this painting, like many of Evelyn’s works from this period, is religious. In this study the two central angel figures are beautifully executed with wings of bird feathers. In the final oil painting it becomes clear that the wings are made of peacock and golden phoenix feathers, symbolic of immortality and renewal. The earth bound angels communicate with the highest order of angels (the six winged seraphim) with the use of the harp, which is a representation of the unifying of earth and heaven or inner spirituality and outer physicality, and thus a symbol which would have appealed greatly to Evelyn. In ‘Gloria in Excelsis’ the seashore is metaphoric, the rocky outcrop where the angels are situated seems desolate and yet in the final painting spring flowers symbolising hope and renewal are emerging from the otherwise barren ground where the angels tread.