Saint Michael the Archangel
1640s
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
64 3/4 x 43 1/4 in. (164.5 x 109.9 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Marquand Collection, Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1889
Accession Number
89.15.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
Ignacio de Ries painted *Saint Michael the Archangel* in the 1640s as a striking oil-on-canvas depiction of the heavenly warrior. Standing over six feet tall, the canvas presents the archangel in full armor, his wings outstretched and sword raised, embodying the eternal struggle between good and evil. The work reflects the deep religious devotion of seventeenth-century Europe, when images of Saint Michael served both as objects of veneration and as reminders of divine protection. Oil paint on canvas allowed Ries to achieve rich, luminous colors and subtle modeling of form, giving the figure a...