Angel Descending the Stairs; Two Angels; Five Angels, for "Jacob's Dream" c. 1818

Editor: This is Washington Allston’s “Angel Descending the Stairs; Two Angels; Five Angels, for "Jacob's Dream" housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. The sketch has a lightness and ethereal quality to it. What symbols are at play here? Curator: Allston’s figures resonate with a layered symbolism inherited from biblical and classical traditions. Note how the ascending and descending angels, recurring motifs in religious art, evoke themes of communication, mediation, and divine order. Do you see how the stairs become a visual metaphor, connecting the earthly and the celestial realms? Editor: I see that now. It’s like a conduit for the spiritual. Curator: Precisely! The composition, while seemingly simple, speaks to the enduring human quest for transcendence. The very act of sketching preserves cultural memory and continuity. Editor: I hadn’t considered that; it’s a window into Allston's spiritual imagination. Curator: Indeed, and a mirror reflecting our own.