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The Complete Works of Philippe Smit
by Andreas Narzt and Florence Castellani

Catalogue entry

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Photo: Christopher Burke Studios, NY; © FdDPS
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Frame designed and painted by the artist.
Frame designed and painted by the artist.
Photo: Christopher Burke Studios, NY; © FdDPS
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Classification: Painting
Theme: figurative
Medium: Oil
Support: On canvas
Year: 1939
PS 467
Celestial Army
Alternate titles: Celestial Army; L'Armée Céleste; The Celestial Army
1939
Oil on canvas
62 5/8 x 68 3/8 in. (159 x 173.5 cm) (sight size)
Signed and dated lower left: Philippe Smit 1939
Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA
Provenance
Berendina Hubscher
Lotty Urban-Leteneur (gift from the above)
Henri Tambuté (gift from the above)
Geneviève Tambuté-Defarges (by descent)
Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, PA (acquired by the Beneficia Foundation from the above in 1992 for the Glencairn Museum)
Exhibitions
1948 Maurs
Galerie Pierre Maurs, Paris, Peinture et Pastels de Philippe Smit, February 04, 1948, no. 58, as L'Armée Céleste, 1939 (CMS); not shown.
1988 Glencairn Museum
Glencairn Museum, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, New Light, Ten Artists Inspired by Emanuel Swedenborg, January 30–March 13, 1988, no. 10, as Celestial Army, 1939, photograph of an oil, 62 1/4" x 68," lent by M. and Mme. Christian Guillemin [the Glencairn exhibited a photograph of the painting in place of the original].
1993 Glencairn Museum
Glencairn Museum, Academy of the New Church, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, Philippe Smit (1886-1948): An exhibition in honor of Glencairn's acquisition of the 'The Celestial Army', January 10–February 15, 1993, [1] A., as The Celestial Army, Oil,1939, (06.OP.105).
Literature & Primary Sources
No known published references.
Notes

This work is directly inspired by the words of Luke’s Gospel: "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God […]"1, by which the evangelist conveys that – heaven and earth communicating – men are invited to unite with God.
Here the army is not belligerent and marches confidently without weapons, flowers in their hands, toward the New Jerusalem under the eyes of the angel. The banner of the woman in a red dress proclaims that: "The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe."2
Philippe Smit adds to this purely religious aspect other unexpected references. First of all by inscribing on the banner held by the rider: "When the true Christian religion resurges, this will be the thousandfold magnification of the heavenly delights inside everyone."(fig. 2) which reflects a phrase said by Stéphane Mallarmé during a conference on aesthetics.3
Then by quoting on the first banner the first two verses of The Living Torch: "They walk in front of me, those eyes aglow with light, Which a learned Angel has rendered magnetic;"4 (fig. 1) a poem by Charles Baudelaire, a fervent admirer of Swedenborg.
Philippe Smit, an earnest member of the Swedenborgian Church, thus goes beyond a subtle tribute to the more emphatic tribute to him of whom the scroll, held by the angel of light, bears the name and the titles of his principal works: "An angel of light has revealed to Emmanuel [sic] Swedenborg according to the Divine Word of the LORD, the Third Testament – the Arcana Coelestia, the True Christian Religion, The Divine Providence, Conjugal Love, The Apocalypse Revealed, Divine Love and Divine Wisdom".5 (fig. 3)

1. Luke 2:13, English Revised Version.
2. Proverbs 18:10, English Revised  Version, (freely quoted by the artist).
3. "Si, dans l’avenir, en France, resurgit une religion, ce sera l’amplification à mille joies de l’instinct du ciel en chacun;" (Mallarmé, Stephane, "La musique et les lettres", (avant-titre: "Oxford, Cambridge"), Paris: Perrin et Cie, 1895, p. 67). Conference held in Oxford and in Cambridge on 28th February and on 2nd March 1894.
4. Flambeau vivant: "Ils marchent devant moi, ces Yeux pleins de lumières, Qu'un Ange très savant a sans doute aimantés;" traduction William Aggeler, The Flowers of Evil (Fresno, CA: Academy Library Guild, 1954).
5. "Un ange de lumière révéla à Emmanuel Swedenborg d’après la divine parole du Seigneur le Troisième Testament - Les Arcanes célestes, La vraie religion chrétienne, La divine providence, L’amour conjugal, L’Apocalypse révélée, Divin amour et Divine sagesse".

Additional images
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Record last updated April 25, 2017. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Narzt, Andreas and Castellani, Florence. "Celestial Army, 1939 (PS 467)." In The Complete Works of Philippe Smit. www.philippesmit.com/catalogue/entry.php?id=467 (accessed on June 29, 2025).