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Painting of the Month

Special Feature: Dressed to Kill

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Introduction The Story Faces Saint Michael Armour Technique
Bermejo, 'Saint Michael triumphant over the Devil', 1468.

Bartolomé Bermejo, 'Saint Michael triumphant over the Devil', 1468.

Dressed in elaborate golden armour, the archangel Michael serenely raises his sword to deliver the final blow to the reptilian creature that writhes beneath his feet. His heavy embroidered cloak, edged with jewels, billows out around him in defiance of gravity.

The painting illustrates a passage from the Book of Revelation in which Michael and his army of angels fought against the 'great dragon, that old serpent called the Devil' and cast him out of heaven.

The kneeling figure on the left (who looks in danger of being sliced in half along with the devil) is the donor, the man who financed the painting. It was made as the central panel of an altarpiece for the church of San Miguel in Tous, near Valencia.

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