The Angels Vs Devils Hand painted themed chess pieces by Italfama

• Made in Italy.
• Superb detailing.
• 3.25 inch king.
• Presented in gift packing.
• Ideal for 15.75 inch board.

THE PIECES
This is a very striking and dramatic set, with two very distinct sides. As with all these hand painted sets from Italfama, the detail is superb, bringing your chess board and game to life.

The Angels, whilst all sporting large wings, white robes and golden locks, are in the main, bearing arms and present a force to be reckoned with. The king, surprisingly, holds a very large sword whilst his more demure and beautiful Queen carries flowers.

The bishop is heavily robed and walks with a staff and book in hand whilst the knight is a magnificent white unicorn with angelic rider. The pawns have a roman look to their attire but despite their wings, they are armed with sword and shield ready to take on Evil. A church-like building depicts the rooks, with its large arched door and windows and offer of sanctuary.

By comparison, the Devils are dark in colour with a reddish burnt look to their skin and soiled wings. Their King is a fearsome beast complete with cloven hooves and horns. His muscular physique and demonic gaze sufficient to render his foe helpless with fear. His queen, whilst still an intimidating figure, is probably the least grisly out of this army.

The Devils' bishop, however, has to be the most formidable looking bishop we have seen in this Italfama series with his cloven hooves, horns and fangs whilst brandishing a skull capped staff. The knight is a growling, grisly werewolf creature with a rider brandishing his pronged fork. The rook in this set, is a typical horror movie headstone, in black stone, cracked with age with the simple inscription of RIP and a skull peering from beneath. To complete this ghoulish army are the pawns, just as foreboding as their king, armed with pronged forks and shields.

We have matched this stunning set with a beautiful 16 inch walnut and maple board from Spain to give you The Angels vs Devils Chess Set. With or without board, they will make a superb gift.

THE HISTORY
Created by God to serve Him, Angels are spiritual and very powerful beings who function as God's messengers. Many times in the Bible they appeared to people saying "I have come as a messenger from the Lord." The New Testament declares they are also ‘ministering’ spirits sent to watch over and attend humans who are heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14).

The concept of Guardian angels originates from an indication from Jesus that children have angels who are responsible for them: “for He said their angels always behold the face of God” (Matthew 18:10). As well as these worker angels there are also archangels such as Michael and it is indicated that he represented a whole nation.

Whilst we do not know for definite what angels look like, the Bible does mention some angelic features. In Ezekiel, the first chapter tells of a vision in which a group of angels so holy, they appeared as flames in a fire. Although they seemed to be like men, they had four wings and multiple faces. Seraphims have six wings and cherubims cover the Holiness of God himself.

Angels are magnificent creatures and very powerful, not like the angelic and childlike portrayals in Renaissance art. They have a power so great that one angel alone destroyed 185000 soldiers in one night (II Kings 19:35). Allegedly their presence is so overwhelming that those who see them have been known to fall, unconscious to the ground.

A devil or demon is a fallen angel and when Satan, who was the very highest angel, turned against God, he took a large number of the angels with him in rebellion. They were cast out of heaven when their insurgence failed and those angels are now devils and in the same way that angels reach the very heights of spirituality, these fallen angels too can reach down into great depths of bitterness, hatred and perversion.

Similar to the angels with their archangels and higher powers, devils have what are known as "principalities and powers." Whatever their position, demons are only interested in tormenting and possessing people and leading them away from God.

Please note that as these pieces are hand painted, there may be some inconsistencies in the level of detail and colour and therefore your pieces may be very slightly different from the images shown. Any inconsistencies however are minimal.