Carl Milles

Above the entrance to Skogskapellet (the Woodland Chapel) at Skogskyrkogården (the Woodland Cemetery) in southern Stockholm, we find the sculptor Carl Milles' only collaboration with the architect Gunnar Asplund. The hovering "Angel of Death" has a shape unusually kind and welcoming for a servant of death. The original, which was installed in 1921, is made of hammered copper plate after a plaster model and was chased by John Färngren. Today, the original copper piece is located in the Music Room at Millesgården in Stockholm. The present plaster version is a prototype from architect Gunnar Asplund's private collection, and probably came into his possession in connection with the work on the Woodland Chapel.

In April 1921, the Swedish art historian Nils G. Wollin wrote in an issue of the Swedish Society of Crafts and Design journal about the "Angel of Death":
"Even before one has passed through the gate of the enclosure, the angel shines upon the wanderer and shows the way to the dwelling where the dead are consecrated to eternity. In the solitude of the forest, the luminous figure appears as a revelation. Like a child of the imagination with which we first read about these heavenly messengers. With its rich material character of indestructible substance, the angel here represents the transcendent world from which it comes, while the chapel, in its restrained simplicity, constructed solely of painted wood, signifies humanity's earthly transience. Yet, despite this contrast in material choice, the angel beautifully blends into the surroundings, as the chapel is ennobled by the harmonious proportions that are the hallmark of true architecture. [...] This angel of death must, in my opinion, be counted among the most consummate within this genre of sculpture that we possess."