I'm reading in the news about the uncovering of a long-hidden mosiac face of an angel in Hagia Sophia. Here's a shot of one of the angels flanking the base of the rotunda. You can see the face is covered with paster and such.

The cathedral’s Christian mosaics were covered up ito comply with Muslim custom shortly after Constantinople, the former name for Istanbul, fell to the Ottomans in 1453 and the cathedral was turned into a mosque.

Clearly Christians in past centuries imagined their angels as being much closer to the biblical description than do contemporary artists, who often depict them like toddlers.