Xoanon
An archaic Greek cult statue, originally carved in wood and regarded as a sacred image.
Sacred Art
Yaksha
A male nature or tutelary deity of South Asian religious traditions, frequently represented in early Indian and Southeast Asian sculpture.
Yakshi
A female South Asian nature spirit or fertility deity, frequently represented in sculpture in association with trees, fecundity, abundance, and auspicious entrance imagery.
Yali
A composite mythical creature of South Indian art, frequently carved into temple pillars and architectural supports.
Heavenly Host
The collective multitude of angels understood as the army or assembled company of heaven, often represented in dense celestial groups around Christ, the Virgin, or scenes of glory.
Angel of the Last Judgment
An angel participating in images of the Last Judgment, commonly blowing trumpets, carrying instruments, separating souls, or attending Christ as Judge.
Angelophany
An appearance or manifestation of an angel to a human being, a recurring narrative structure in biblical and Christian sacred art.
Putto
A small nude child figure derived from classical Eros or genius imagery and revived in Renaissance art; putti may function as secular spirits, decorative figures, or Christianized attendants but are not literally the biblical order of Cherubim.
Saint Michael the Archangel
The warrior archangel and protector figure commonly shown armored, defeating a dragon or Satan, carrying a sword or spear, and sometimes weighing souls.
Spiritello
A Renaissance Italian term for a lively little spirit figure, especially associated with Donatello's revival of animated putti in fifteenth-century sculpture.