Mae Runions

Homage to the Light Part I

A set of 6 Angel Banners.

Two sets of these 6 banners were originally created for Christmas exhibitions in 1990 at two theatres, the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in downtown Vancouver and the Gateway Theatre in Richmond.

I had been deeply impressed by angel paintings done by Fra Angelico for the Linaiuoli Triptych, now in the museum of the convent of San Marco, Florence. Those angels surrounded the central Virgin and Child, and each carried a musical instrument, perhaps to proclaim the Incarnation.

My angels too announce the coming of Christ, with music. Most are joyful, but I feel that perhaps the trumpet-angel sounds a kind of lament, as God engages with the pain of humanity.

Christmas has it’s origins in the Incarnation: God becoming human, light shining in darkness. Such a mystery eludes concrete expression; there is majesty and humility, celebration and sorrow, universality yet personal involvement. The human spirit seeks to see it, feel it, understand it.

The poet G.K. Chesterton helps us:

"The thatch on the roof was as golden,

Though dusty the straw was and old,

The wind had a peal as of trumpets,

Though blowing and barren and cold,

The mother’s hair was a glory

Though loosened and torn,

For under the eaves in the gloaming

A child is born.

And the mother still joys for the whispered

First stir of unspeakable things,

Still feels that high moment unfurling

Red glory of Gabriel’s wings.

Still the babe of an hour is a master

Whom angels adorn,

Emmanuel, prophet, anointed,

A child is born."

These banners were created for the exhibitions and were not commissions, hence I still have them. They have been hung many times over the years in churches and gathering places.