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Bored angel and twin

Benjamin and Devin talk about angels made by an English artist in about 1420-30. This is from an imaginative tour at the Getty Center: The Supernatural in Art.  Created by Getty Museum.

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Video transcript

(upbeat orchestral music) - [Benjamin] Hi, I'm Benjamin. The first sign is the halo. (dings) The second sign is wings. (wings flapping) Some angels have those. - [Voiceover] Well, we don't have wings. - [Voiceover] We were designed 700 years ago for a stained glass window in a church in England. (medieval horn music) - [Benjamin] The one on the left, which I will name Bella, she seems like she has a sad expression. And the one on the right, I'm gonna name Edith. Seems like she's looking at her sister, and thinking, like, "Oh, brother." Bella is wearing a turtleneck coat with flowers on it and diamonds. Possibly she could be like a guardian angel, and she's probably sad that the one she was protecting accidentally kind of died. Edith is wearing possibly the same design of a coat, and she has an expression, like, "Oh, Bella, just get over it." She just wants to get her sister to stop being sad. I like them because I love cartoons, and they're drawn like they are cartoons. - [Devin] Hi, I'm Devin. They kind of remind me of contemporary cartoons, like a kid's TV show. But they wouldn't be the nice guys. They'd be like the mean guys, like everyone's scared of them. - [Voiceover] I beg your pardon? - [Devin] Maybe one's like the good twin, and one's the bad twin. One looks bored, almost, whereas the other one's a little more alert. They don't look happy. When you think "angel", you think fairy-like. They just look aged and depressed. They're maybe disappointed in what the world had come to. (harp music) - [Voiceover] Edith? - [Voiceover] Yeah, Bella? - [Voiceover] (sighs) Isn't Benjamin cute? (Edith sighs)