Course: The Metropolitan Museum of Art > Unit 1
Lesson 13: War and conquest- Negroli, Burgonet
- Tiepolo, The Triumph of Marius
- Matisse, The illustrated book, “Jazz”
- Byzantine Plate with the Battle of David and Goliath
- Trumbull, The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar
- Master of Belmonte, Saint Michael
- Remington, The Old Dragoons of 1850
- Beyond Battle
Master of Belmonte, Saint Michael
Met curator C. Griffith Mann on storytelling in the Master of Belmonte’s Saint Michael, 1450–1500.
The Archangel Michael is portrayed as a saint of the Church Militant. Armed with a coat of mail, a dagger, shield, and lance, he symbolizes Christ triumphant over evil. The demon at his feet is the Antichrist, whom Christ has conquered and cast out of heaven. The youthful beauty and sumptuous raiment of St. Michael combine with the rich courtly setting to form a stark visual contrast between the strength and splendor of the Church and the monstrous, defeated demon.
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- Does the demon's multiple faces have any significance or meaning? Or is this just the artist making the strangest, scariest thing he could think of?(3 votes)
- I had the same question... I wanted to know wether the art piece depicts the bibles description of satans' appearance, or if it was of his own making.(2 votes)
- did u see that all the demon's faces were animals.what do they mean? did the artist mean anything by it.(1 vote)
- You might have heard about how in medieval times humans were seen as dual creatures consisting of body and spirit. The spirit was the part of a human that was trying to do good and get closer to God in heavens whereas body was a part of this world with all its evils and sins. Taking this view it is no wonder that animals, especialy these living close to the ground, were seen as agents of satan while birds were seen as "pure".(3 votes)