Artist:
Raffaello Santi
Media:
Oil on Wood
Date:
c. 1505
Dimensions:
H 0.30 Meters; W 0.26 Meters
“In the Apocalypse of Saint John (Book of Revelation), the Archangel Michael, having overcome the rebel angels, slays the dragon, an allegorical embodiment of evil, and casts it to earth. In this depiction, Raphael enriched the scene’s traditional representation with ancillary scenes inspired by the Inferno in the Divine Comedy, in which Dante recounts the punishment of hypocrites and thieves. On the left, the hypocrites, shrouded in gilded lead cloaks, are emerging from the ground and parading before the burning city, while on the right the naked thieves are at being devoured by snakes and black birds.” Cécile Scailliérez
Raffaello
Santi was born April 6th 1483 and is considered one of the last of the three
greatest painters of the Renaissance. He learned to paint from his father,
Giovanni Di Santi. In 1514 he was named Architect of the new St. Peter’s and in
the next year he was put in charge of preserving and recording of the Vatican’s
collection of ancient sculptures. He died April on his birthday 1520.
Saint Michael defeating the dragon is another painting giving a visual metaphor for Satan. The dragon is the representation of Lucifer while Saint Michael is the leader of God’s army. The painting fits my theme and I particularly like this piece because of its imagery of what demons should look like. The pure imagination of these creatures raises the question of what these people dealt with in their lives to come up with these ideas.
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