This revised edition of Ménager's 2001 book, Diplomatie et théologie à la Renaissance, takes as its starting point a comparison of angels and ambassadors. They have in common the role of messenger: from God, or from a prince. Ménager makes a subtle, convincing argument that shifting discourses about the office of ambassador had an impact on the way in which Renaissance people understood, depicted and discussed angels. The sixteenth century saw a great expansion of resident diplomacy in Europe. Ménager suggests that the idea of a guardian angel resonates with the idea of a resident ambassador as guardian of his master's interests abroad. The period also saw a great deal of discussion among theorists about the proper role of the ambassador. How should he conduct himself at a receiving court? How should he be loyal? How should he represent his prince? It is on the question of representation that the parallel founders, because ambassadors were expected to embody their prince in a way that no-one suggests angels embody God. Yet despite the limitations to the analogy, this is a thought-provoking study. Exploring a wide range of texts – from the letters and treatises of envoys and agents to numerous depictions of the Annunciation in art – Ménager shows how the figure of Gabriel was increasingly assimilated to that of the ambassador. From a silent presence, he became eloquent, loyal, smiling, the qualities essential to a successful envoy of the later sixteenth century. Ménager is less concerned with the detail of diplomatic practice than with its prescriptions and representations. Yet this remains a thoughtful, nuanced essay on the ways in which shifts in political thought might influence the understanding and depiction of a religious phenomenon: the angel.