Archangel Michael in Christian art

Archangel Michael may be depicted in Christian art alone or with other angels such as Gabriel or saints. Some depictions with Gabriel date back to the 8th century, e.g. the stone casket at Notre Dame de Mortain church in France. He is very often present in scenes of the Last Judgement, but few other specific scenes, so most images including him are devotional rather than narrative. The angel who rescues Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the "fiery furnace" in the Book of is usually regarded in Christian tradition as Michael; this is sometimes represented in Early Christian art and Eastern Orthodox icons, but rarely in later art of the Western church.

In most depictions Michael is represented as an angelic warrior, fully armed with helmet, sword, and shield, in the style of a Byzantine officer, which is typically found even in Western depictions, though some late-medieval ones have him in contemporary knightly armour. Like other angels, in late-medieval Western art he may have what are known as feather tights, with large feathers over most of his body, as on the Holy Thorn Reliquary. He may be standing over a serpent, a dragon, or the defeated figure of Satan, whom he sometimes pierces with a lance. The iconography of Michael slaying a serpent goes back to the early 4th century, when Emperor Constantine defeated Licinius at the Battle of Adrianople in 324 AD, not far from the ''Michaelion'', a church dedicated to Archangel Michael.''Saint Michael the Archangel in medieval English legend'' by Richard Freeman Johnson 2005 pages 33-34

Constantine felt that Licinius was an agent of Satan, and associated him with the serpent described in the Book of Revelation ( 12:9). After the victory, Constantine commissioned a depiction of himself and his sons slaying Licinius represented as a serpent - a symbolism borrowed from the Christian teachings on the Archangel to whom he attributed the victory. A similar painting, this time with the Archangel Michael himself slaying a serpent then became a major art piece at the Michaelion and eventually lead to the standard iconography of Archangel Michael as a warrior saint.

In other depictions Michael may be holding a pair of scales in which he weighs the souls of the departed and may hold the book of Life (as in the Book of Revelation), to show that he takes part in the judgment. However this form of depiction is less common than the slaying of the dragon.''Saint Michael the Archangel in medieval English legend'' by Richard Freeman Johnson 2005 pages 141-147 Michelangelo depicted this scene on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. The shield may bears the Latin inscription ''Quis ut Deus''.

In Byzantine art Michael was often shown wearing the formal court robes and ''loros'' that were worn by the Emperor and his bodyguard on special occasions, rather than as a normal warrior who battled Satan or with scales for weighing souls on the Day of Judgement.

A Victorian English scholar wrote,

The widely reproduced image of ''Our Mother of Perpetual Help'', an icon of the Cretan school, depicts Michael on the left carrying the lance and sponge of the crucifixion of Jesus, with Gabriel on the right side of Mary and Jesus.''Icons and saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church'' by Alfredo Tradigo 2006 page 188

In Eastern Orthodox depictions, there are three icons of the Archangel Michael in whose composition he is said to have personally intervened: Archangel Michael of Mantamados in Mytilene, Archangel Michael of Panormitis and Archangel Michael of Nenita. Each of these icons is different.

Gallery of art

File:Byzantine ivory 801.jpg, Byzantine ivory, half of a diptych, early 6th century
File:Cathedral St Michaels Victory.jpg, Bronze by Jacob Epstein (1880-1959) at Coventry Cathedral
File: Neroccio di bartolomeo landi, madonna col bambino e santi, 1476.JPG, '' Madonna and Child with St Michael and St Bernardino'', Neroccio di Bartolomeo de' Landi, 1476
File:Angel Van Verschaffelt SantAngelo.jpg, At Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome, 1753
File:ArchangelDossi.jpg, ''The triumphant St. Michael'', Dosso Dossi, 16th century
File:ArchangelRubens.jpg, ''St. Michael and fallen angels'', Rubens, 17th century


File:Hôtel Dieu Altarbild.jpg, Weighing souls, from a 15th-century ''Last Judgement''
File:Mikel_Mikel_zaitu_Euskalerria.JPG, A customary depiction of Michael the Archangel in Basque iconography
File:Mikharkhangel2.jpg, Michael the Archangel and biblical scenes, Russian icon, c. 1410
File:Paris July 2011-24.jpg, St Michael's Fountain, on Boulevard Saint-Michel, Paris
File:Rublev Arhangel Mikhail.jpg, Russian icon by Andrei Rublev, c. 1408
File:Schnorr_von_Carolsfeld_Bibel_in_Bildern_1860_239.png, Michael and the Dragon, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1860
File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 065.png, Michael the Archangel protects the body of Moses, Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1860.
File:St Michael La Martorana Palermo 2008-08-27.jpg, Mosaic in Byzantine court dress, 12th century
File:Erzengel Michael-Statue über dem Portal der St. Michaeliskirche Hamburg.jpg, Hamburg, Germany
Statue of St Michael, Limerick.jpg, Limerick, Ireland,

See also

* Angels in art
* War in Heaven

References

{{Reflist

Michael (archangel)
Christian iconography