Black and grey realism tattoo of a winged classical angel statue with candles on an upper arm, framed by purple gothic arch linework.

Angel statue with candles on upper arm

Realism · Upper arm · Mixed · Photo

A black and grey angel statue with feathered wings and draped robes stands at the centre, with a row of lit candles along the base. Above it, a gothic arch outlined in purple ink contains a triangular motif and spires. The shading on the statue is smooth and detailed, and the purple linework gives the upper part of the design a contrasting, outlined look.

Realism Geometric Upper arm Angel Statue Wing Drapery Candle Triangle Spire

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

The angel had lain face up in Ned Probert's yard for three weeks before anyone in Coldharbour asked what she was for. By then I had chipped her drapery twice and sworn at the stone both times, because Ned wanted the cloth sliding off one shoulder like wet linen and her face turned towards the pit head rather than the chapel. The chapel had its own saints, he said. This one was for the men under the hill.

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The fund had paid for the marble out of Carrara, a word the widows said carefully, as if it might crack in their mouths. Every Sunday they came up the lane with a candle each in a jam jar and set them at the foot of the plinth where the frost would reach them first. Ned said that was the point. A light that wouldn't last the winter was still a light, and the men had gone without much else.

On the last day we stood her up with the crane, and half the street came out in their coats to watch the marble swing over the wall. Mrs Gwen Hopkin lit the first candle. Her hands shook so badly the match went out twice, and the third time the flame ran down the wicks of every jar along the base until the whole plinth was ringed in gold and the grey stone above it seemed to breathe.

Ned climbed the ladder with a chisel and cut a small triangle into the arch above her head, no bigger than a thumbnail. Nobody asked him why. When I did, he tapped it twice with the handle and said that was where the lamps went up, then climbed down for his tea and never mentioned it again.