In the ancient pictures of the Enthroned Madonna there are always attendant angels; in some later works they are omitted. In this subject the Madonna holds the Infant Jesus on her lap, and is surrounded by angels. The earliest Enthroned Madonnas represent the Virgin seated between the Archangels St. Michael and St. Gabriel, as symbolic of life and death. This representation dates from the eighth century in the carved ivories of the Greek Church, and was repeated in sculpture and glass painting during six or seven hundred years. Later St. Gabriel appears in the Annunciation only, but as St. Michael was the guardian of Jesus and his mother in their earthly life, he is often beside them, as well as St. Raphael, the guardian spirit of all human beings. Perugino presents both these guardian archangels in his lovely picture in the National Gallery. This is one of the rare examples in which the three archangels are seen together, each with his appropriate symbol. In the usual picture of this subject the Madonna is literally enthroned, her throne being rich and decorative. Raphael, however, placed her on the clouds, the child standing beside her, and the angels below, rather than above them. This might be called the Madonna in Glory, although she is seated on the clouds as on a throne. Angels were represented as attendant upon the Virgin very early in the history of Art. Even the ancient mosaics of Ravenna show them about her throne, and as her office of Queen of Angels [Illustration: SANDRO BOTTICELLI.--MADONNA AND ANGELS.] came to be more and more considered, angels were represented as adoring her, sustaining her throne, and performing a variety of services, the most charming being that of the musical angels. When Art reached the height of the fifteenth century, the angelic choristers were exquisite in beauty and in sentiment, as they knelt or stood near the Virgin, or sat upon the steps of her throne, playing upon lute and pipe, or singing as only angels can. There are so-called half-length Enthroned Madonnas, in which the Virgin and Child and angels alone appear. Occasionally the Infant St. John the Baptist is introduced in these pictures, as in the illustration here given, after Botticelli. The picture known as the Mater Amabilis, in which the Madonna caresses the Child, or tenderly gazes at him, rarely has the angelic attendants, but Gian Bellini filled the background of such a picture with winged cherub heads. There are two classes of pictures of the Madonna and Child, in which the little St. John Baptist is present. When St. John adores Jesus, kisses his feet, or in any way seems to recognize his superiority, it is a purely devotional picture, while a great number of others are simply domestic, friendly scenes. In all of these angels appear in varying numbers.