Fra Angelico Archangel Gabriel Annunciate, 1431-33, Detroit Institute of Arts

Angels are a constant presence in Western art from the 7th to the 20th centuries. But how often are these figures who hover over Nativity or Last Judgement scenes, who kneel beside the Virgin and Child, sometimes bathed in heavenly light, or who swoop and weep in scenes of Christ's Passion really looked at? There is a whole range of different types of angel, dressed very differently and with wings which can resemble peacocks' tails or represent a whole range of rainbow colours and patterns.

This lecture by Clare Ford-Wille will be an opportunity to follow the angels chronologically, from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, with examples drawn from the work of artists both familiar and not so well known, from Anglo-Saxon and Carolingian manuscripts and Renaissance artists such as Lippi and Memling to the Pre-Raphaelites and Stanley Spencer.