Stone carved angel holding a plant
Architecture,  Art,  Sunday Stills,  Themed galleries

Gallery: wings (not) in motion

July 26, 2024 / 50 Comments

Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly?

Frida Kahlo

Have you ever thought what fun it would be to be able to fly! Not boxed up in an aeroplane, but free, like a bird? Many would opt for that as their ‘super power’ if given the choice, I reckon. But maybe we all have wings, of a sort?

When I visited Frida Kahlo’s home in Coyoacán earlier this year I was struck by many things, but in particular her dedication to her art despite her disabilities that kept her often bed bound. Her ‘wings’ were those of her imagination, of course, and we all have those!

For this week’s Sunday Stills challenge Terri has asked us to focus on wings. I’ve featured so many bird and butterfly shots in the past that I thought I’d do something a little different. I’ve pulled together a selection of images of winged statues and carvings from around the world. There are plenty to choose from!

It seems that imagination of ours draws us to attribute the wings we lack to other beings, like angels and fairies. In them we sense the power that we lack, to find freedom in flight and connect us to other worlds, whether spiritual or magical.

My feature photo was taken in the Eglise Saint-Paul et Saint-Louis in Le Marais, Paris.

Very large metal sculpture of an angel with wings outstretched

I’ll start with a very large winged figure, Anthony Gormley’s Angel of the North in Gateshead, north east England

(Yes, you saw that in my recent sculptures post but from a different angle!)

Relief carving of a small cherub

Much much smaller, a little cherub above a door in Lucca, Italy

Relief carving of a small angel

Another little cherub above a door, this one in Liege, Belgium

Stone carving of a little girl with wings

In South Ealing cemetery, west London

On the main front of the Chiesa del Gesù, Lecce, Italy

Detail of stone carvings on a church including a praying angel
Small angel playing a trumpet

In the Roman Catholic St Mary’s Cathedral, Newcastle upon TYne, England

Candle holder in St Albans Abbey, Hertfordshire, England

Small winged figure holding a large candle
Angel playing a trumpet standing on a small dome

In Riga Cathedral, Latvia

On the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City

Carvings in white stone on a roof
Large white carved angel playing a trumpet on a roof

Detail on the Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria

In the Plaza de America, Seville, Spain

Classical sculpture of a woman with wings
Sculpture of Winged Victory on a column

Winged Victory in the Parque de María Luisa, Seville, Spain

Detail of a statue on the Pont Alexandre III, Paris

Gold winged angel with a victory wreath in one hand
Gold winged statue on a stone pedestal

Atop the Queen Victoria statue in front of Buckingham Palace, London

The Rusalka Memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, erected in 1902 to mark the ninth anniversary of the sinking of the Russian warship Rusalka

The angel is holding an Orthodox cross towards the direction of the shipwreck

Statue of a winged figure with arms outstretched
Silhouette of a winged statue against a sunset sky

The statue of ‘Eros’ at Piccadilly Circus, London, at sunset

One of the most photographed winged statues in the world, this figure on top of the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain isn’t in fact Eros, the god of love, but Anteros, the brother of Eros and the god of requited love

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