Angels Among other tasks, angels were meant to accompany the dead to Heaven as well as to provide comfort to those in mourning. They appeared on graves in the 18th century, usually as a head with wings carved onto a tombstone. The life-size, smooth-featured angels found in Victorian cemeteries became common from the 1880s on. They were usually carved by Italian sculptors used to making images of the Virgin Mary and who were thought to handle the human form better than others. As a symbol angels signalled that the deceased’s exemplary Christian life had earned them a place in Heaven, and reminded the family to take comfort in their loved one being in a better place. CLOSE WINDOW