The earliest instance I have met of the Archangels introduced by name into a work of art is in the old church of San Michele at Ravenna (A.D. 545). The mosaic in the apse exhibits Christ in the centre, bearing in one hand the cross as a trophy or sceptre, and in the other an open book on which are the words ‘_Qui videt me videt et Patrem meum_.’ On each side stand Michael and Gabriel, with vast wings and long sceptres; their names are inscribed above, but without the _Sanctus_ and without the Glory. It appears, therefore, that at this time, the middle of the sixth century, the title of _Saint_, though in use, had not been given to the Archangels. When, in the ancient churches, the figure of Christ or of the Lamb appears in a circle of glory in the centre of the roof; and around, or at the four corners, four angels who sustain the circle with outspread arms, or stand as watchers, with sceptres or lances in their hands, these I presume to be the four Archangels who sustain the throne of God. Examples may be seen in San Vitale at Ravenna; in the chapel of San Zeno, in Santa Prassede at Rome; and on the roof of the choir of San Francesco d’Assisi. So the four Archangels, stately colossal figures, winged and armed and sceptred, stand over the arch of the choir in the Cathedral of Monreale, at Palermo.[59] So the four angels stand at the four corners of the earth and hold the winds, heads with puffed cheeks and dishevelled hair.[60] (Rev. vii. 1.) But I have never seen Uriel represented by name, or alone, in any sacred edifice. In the picture of Uriel painted by Allston,[61] he is the ‘Regent of the Sun,’ as described by Milton; not a sacred or scriptural personage. On a shrine of carved ivory[62] I have seen the four Archangels as keeping guard, two at each end; the three first are named, as usual, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael; the fourth is styled _St. Chérubin_; and I have seen the same name inscribed over the head of the angel who expels Adam and Eve from Paradise. There is no authority for such an appellation applied individually; but I find, in a famous legend of the middle ages, ‘La Pénitence d’Adam;’ that the angel who guards the gates of Paradise is thus designated:—‘Lorsque l’Ange Chérubin vit arriver Seth aux portes de Paradis,’ &c. The four Archangels, however, seldom occur together, except in architectural decoration. On the other hand, devotional pictures of the three Archangels named in the canonical Scriptures are of frequent occurrence. They are often grouped together as patron saints or protecting spirits; or they stand round the throne of Christ, or below the glorified [Illustration: 33 The Three Archangels (from an ancient Greek picture)]