A herald angel in profile tilts her head back and blows a long golden trumpet towards the upper right, while one huge wing of crumpled gold leaf spreads behind her across deep forest green and small gold stars.
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Made for the festive season in a living room, a hallway or a dining room with green, cream or warm red walls. Joyful, bright and celebratory.
Printable digital download, around 9,000 px on the long edge
The commercial licence covers hotels, offices, restaurants and public spaces
Print it yourself at any size, on metal, acrylic, glass or fine-art paper
On a Samsung Frame TV
Every download also includes a 3840 × 2160 file made for the Samsung Frame and other art-mode TVs: the whole work, uncropped, on a quiet mat in a colour taken from the picture. Send it to the TV with the SmartThings app and show it in Art Mode. All Frame TV art →
How large can I print it?
The file is around 9,000 px on the long edge. That prints crisply to about 75 cm on the long edge at gallery quality, and to 130–170 cm at the distance you look at a picture over furniture. Sizes, paper and framing, in detail →
Which paper or surface?
Gold on dark grounds wants a matte or satin fine-art paper (200–310 gsm), or aluminium for humid rooms; glossy photo paper turns the black into a mirror. The pale works also take satin and baryta papers.
Which licence do I need?
Personal (€9.99) covers your own home and gifts. Any business or space open to the public — a spa, clinic, hotel, office, restaurant — needs the commercial licence (€99.99, one venue, no renewal). The venue guide →
The trumpet sets the direction. It runs straight from her lips to the upper right corner, and her tilted-back head pushes the eye the same way, so the whole picture feels like a call going out. Behind her, the huge wing of crumpled gold leaf fills the top left corner and runs down the left edge, its creases breaking the gold into uneven facets. Her long dark green gown flows to the bottom edge, with patches and flecks of gold leaf across it, so figure and background almost merge. Short curly brown hair frames her profile. The deep forest green is scattered with many small gold stars. Close up the leaf looks wrinkled and lively, while from across the room the gold shapes and the green make a warm, festive pattern.
Herald angels come from the Christmas story in Luke's Gospel, where an angel brings news of the birth to shepherds and a multitude of the heavenly host joins in praise. Later art and Christmas cards often gave the herald a long straight trumpet, an echo of the trumpeting angels in the Book of Revelation and of the royal heralds who announced great news. English carols carried the image on, most famously Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, which grew from a hymn Charles Wesley published in 1739. This work takes that tradition into a decorative, card-like design, with evergreen colour and gold leaf laid on in loose, crumpled patches.
Bring it out for December in a living room, a hall or above a dining table, where green, cream, warm red or deep teal walls suit it, though it is just as happy all winter. A gold or dark green frame adds to the festive feel, and a cream mat makes it look like a fine card. Warm fairy lights or candlelight nearby make the gold tones feel even richer. Pair it with The Sleeping Cherub for a gentle Christmas wall, or with Cradle of the Moon for gold stars on both sides. A 40 × 60 cm print is a good size for a mantelpiece. The 300 dpi file renders sharply in sizes reaching about 91 cm along the long edge.
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