Angels appearing in Nativity imagery to announce, praise, adore, or attend the birth of Christ, from the angelic proclamation to the shepherds to adoring figures around the manger.
Angels of the Nativity encompass the angelic figures associated with Christ’s birth: the messenger announcing good news to the shepherds, the multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and later devotional angels adoring the Christ Child.
Etymology
Nativity from Latin nativitas, “birth.”
Sculptor Notes
Nativity angels can solve several compositional roles at once: they can fill the upper register, establish a vertical link between heaven and manger, or kneel within the earthly group. Their gaze should usually converge on the Child or direct the shepherds toward him.
References
Luke 2:8-14; https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_one/section_two/chapter_one/article_1/paragraph_5_heaven_and_earth.html