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Saint Michael

Artwork: Saint Michael (Whole and details)

Artist: Piero della Francesca (born Piero di Benedetto; c. 1415[1] – 12 October 1492)

Location: National Gallery of London

 

The painting was commissioned in 1454 by Angelo di Giovanni di Simone d’Angelo as the altarpiece for Sant' Agostino in Sansepolcro (formerly Borgo Santo Sepolcro)

 

About

Born: Sansepolcro, Italy

Died: 12 October 1492, Sansepolcro, Italy

Periods: Italian Renaissance, Italian Renaissance painting

Parents: Romana di Perino da Monterchi, Benedetto de' Franceschi

Known for: Painting, Fresco

Influenced: Pietro Perugino, Luca Signorelli, Melozzo da Forlì, Elisa Maria Boglino (Wikipedia)

 

Movement style: Early Renaissance

#therenaissanceexperiencereligious

The Archangel Michael led an army of angels to battle against the devil and cast him down from heaven (Revelation 12: 9). Piero shows him as a beautiful, youthful soldier. He clutches the severed head of the devil, represented as a snake with pointy ears.

 

The panel was part of a polyptych (multi-panelled altarpiece) made for the church of Sant‘Agostino in Piero’s hometown of Borgo Sansepolcro. It was placed to the immediate left of the central panel, now lost, which depicted the Virgin and Child. The lower right corner of the panel includes part of the step of the Virgin’s throne and part of her cloth of gold cloak. The other side panels are in collections around the world.

 

Michael may have been included to honour the patron, Angelo di Giovanni. The archangel was very popular with the citizens of Sansepolcro, who made pilgrimages to Monte Sant’ Angelo in southern Italy, where he was thought to have appeared miraculously.

Source description: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/piero-della-francesc...

Photos credit 1️⃣ZebraPhotography and me Constanta-Liliana Cld at National Gallery of London

#constancecldrhistoryofartseenbyme

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Uploaded on July 4, 2023
Taken on November 18, 2022