It is very interesting to compare Raphael’s portrayal of the Archangel Michael in his 1518 work Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan with contemporary popular portrayals of St Michael. The contemporary preference is for brooding warrior-like figures, with hypermasculine bodies and massive swords like something out of an online epic fantasy game. These portrayals fail, however, to show a key, if not the key, characteristic of St Michael: he does not conquer Satan by virtue of his own power, but by the power of God. St Michael in Raphael’s portrayal has a decent build, strong armour and a powerful spear, and yet the genius of his work is to show how Satan’s defeat – described by St John in Revelation 12:7-9 – is ultimately brought about by divine, not angelic, power.
11:58 AM
What Raphael understood about the Archangel
Raphael’s ‘Saint Michael Vanquishing Satan’ reminds us that the archangel defeats the Devil not through his own strength, but through the power of God
Fr Gavan Jennings
4 min read
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