Defend us in the day of battle: St. Michael the Archangel in Christian art and devotion
A de-paywalled and expanded paid-subscribers post... with a present!
SANCTE Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, Princeps militiae caelestis, Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute, in infernum detrude. Amen.
Last Sunday, in the Latin rite, was the Feast of Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels and I was planning to write a whole post about the history of the depictions of and devotion to St. Michael and the Archangels, and then thought… Wait a second… Didn’t we already do that one?
Turns out, indeed we did. Back in May, not only did we have a post on this exact subject for the paid subscribers, but I included a little present that I’d gone to some effort over - a colouring page of a medieval manuscript painting of St. Michael defeating the dragon.
So, in today’s post for all subscribers, we’re going to revisit that post, expand it a bit and make that set of digital downloads available to all subscribers.
I remember spending days struggling, with increasing frustration, with image editing software (which in the end defeated me) trying to turn it into a decent image for a colouring page, when I suddenly remembered..
Wait a second… I’m an artist! And I have a scanner and a printer. Why can’t I just do it myself?
So I’m happy to present in this octave of the Feast of St. Michael and all the Archangels1 the post that was for paid subscribers only. I’ve de-paywalled everything and added some more interesting stuff on the history of the feast and the devotion to St. Michael as it crosses the east/west divide in the Church and how it influenced social customs in the Middle Ages.
And I’ve reposted the downloads so they’re available for everyone.
Happy feast.
HJMW
The Sacred Images Project is a reader-supported publication where we talk about Christian life, thought, history and culture through the lens of the first 1200 years of sacred art. It’s my full time job, but it’s still not bringing a full time income. You can subscribe for free to get one and a half posts a week.
For $9/month you also get the second half of the weekly Goodie Bag post, plus a weekly paywalled in-depth article on this great sacred patrimony, plus our Benedictine Book Club in the Substack Chat. There are also occasional extras like downloadable exclusive high resolution printable images, ebooks, mini-courses, videos and eventually podcasts.
If you would prefer to set up a recurring patronage in an amount of your choice, or make a one-off contribution, you can do that at my studio blog. Anyone who signs up for a patronage of $9/month or more will, of course, receive a complimentary subscription to the paid sections of The Sacred Images Project.
This helps me a lot because the patronages through the studio blog are not subject to the 10% Substack fee:
This is the site where I post photos of my own work as it develops. I have a shop there where some of my drawings and paintings are available for sale as prints, as well as some other items.
One of which is this blank lined notebook printed on the cover front and back with the St. Michael image by Hans Memling featured above.
History, Traditions, and Iconography of the Heavenly Defender
Last Sunday, September 29th, was the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel and All Archangels in the Latin Church. Until the 20th century Michaelmas was devoted solely to the Archangel Michael and the roots of this feast go back to the very beginning of Christian devotion, having immense importance for Christian society.
And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon…. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. (Revelation 12:7,9)
From the earliest centuries, Christians have had a profound reverence for St. Michael, the leader of the heavenly armies, who stands as a guardian of the faithful and a protector against the forces of darkness. His presence in both Scripture and liturgical life has shaped Christian spiritual practices for nearly 2000 years.
Folk customs, St. Michael’s day and the end of the year: a fresh start
In medieval England Michaelmas was not only a liturgical celebration but held great importance in the social fabric. It marked a crucial point in the agricultural year, the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the new agricultural year, and was a time for settling debts, paying rents, and reorganizing estates. While it occurs in the ninth month of the calendar, Michaelmas was often seen as a symbolic new beginning. It was a fresh start as the summer harvest had been completed, and a new cycle of work, planning, and preparations for the winter ahead began.
One of the best-known customs was eating a goose on Michaelmas Day, believed to bring good fortune for the year ahead. This tradition supposedly began after Queen Elizabeth I ate a goose while receiving news of the Spanish Armada's defeat2. Michaelmas was also a time for local fairs, where farmers would sell their livestock and harvests, often using the proceeds to pay rent or settle debts. These fairs, filled with markets and festivities, marked the close of the rural year.
Shawn Tribe at Liturgical Arts Journal writes that the custom extended to Ireland: “In Ireland, Michaelmas was one of the most important feasts of the year, and people prayed especially on this day for protection against sickness. A goose or a sheep or a pig was especially killed and eaten at Michaelmas at a feast of thanksgiving, connected by some with a miracle of Saint Patrick performed with the aid of Michael the Archangel. And the Irish made a Michaelmas Pie into which a ring was placed — its finder was supposed to have an early marriage. In Scotland, Saint Michael’s Bannock was made on his day, as well as a Saint Michael’s Cake, that all guests, together with the family, must eat entirely before the night was over.”
Several folk traditions surrounded the day as well. One, that I know is still repeated in rural Cheshire, says that after Michaelmas, blackberries were cursed by the devil, making them inedible. (And it’s true that after Michaelmas the hedgerow blackberries are often covered in spider webs and spider gossamer that makes them rather unappetising.) It was said that when Satan was cast from heaven, he fell into a blackberry bush and cursed it in his fury.
The Michaelmas daisy, a flower that blooms in late September, was also associated with the day, often used to decorate homes and churches.
To the men of our ancient Christian civilisation, it represents a moment when both practical and spiritual matters came together: people settled their financial obligations to landlords and completed work contracts. And it was the time when they renewed their spiritual defences, invoking St. Michael’s protection against both physical and spiritual enemies in the difficult winter months to come. The social atmosphere during Michaelmas reflected this dual sense of closing one chapter and beginning another, a communal acknowledgment of change and renewal.
I really enjoyed this article about the feast, and a particular 12th century painting of St. Michael, by fellow liturgical and medieval history and culture Substackers Robert Keim and Amelia Sims McKee.
The angels in this image are a far cry from the chubby cherubs of Renaissance art. They confidently wield human weapons, and their visual form resembles the adult human body in all but the wings. Their facial expressions convey serenity amidst the pandemonium—from Greek for “all demons”—of this monumental contest between the forces of good and evil.
The icon of St. Michael, east and west
While the Archangel Michael holds a prominent place in Christian thought, his earliest artistic portrayals remain shrouded in some mystery. The image of the Archangel Michael, leader of heavenly armies, has ancient roots, reach into the earliest centuries - and events - in Christian history, and even into prechristian mythology. After Christ and the Theotokos, St. Michael the Archangel is near the top of the list of most depicted figures in Christian art both east and west.
The Bible itself offers a few glimpses of Michael, and similar to other celestial beings in early Christianity, concrete artistic representations were scarce in the early centuries. The nascent Christian church, wary of idolatry, approached artistic representations of the divine with caution. As well, periods of persecution tended to preclude the creation and development of permanent artworks.
After the legalisation of Christianity, some trends begin to emerge in depictions in Eastern and Western artistic traditions. By the 4th-6th centuries, artistic portrayals of Michael started to solidify.
By the 4th century, hints of a developing iconographic prototype begin to emerge. Emperor Constantine's victory, perhaps seen as divinely aided by St. Michael, may have influenced early portrayals associating him with triumph over evil. These early seeds would eventually blossom into the iconic warrior saint image that would dominate later Christian art.
Byzantine icons show this great angel as a mighty, armed warrior, dressed in variations on Roman legionary armour, carrying a cross-inscribed shield, sword and/or spear and wearing a red cloak. They typically portray him with stern features and large wings, often trampling a serpent or dragonish Satan, in keeping with the prophecies of the Last Day in Revelation.
The standardized prototype for Michael in Byzantine iconography remained in use as a foundation in the west as its styles developed through the Romanesque and medieval variations. Western depictions, especially in later centuries after artistic styles had diverged, displayed more variation. He was often depicted in contemporary military armour, reflecting the evolving concept of the “warrior saint,” especially from the period of the Crusades onward.
In western art, he might be a knight in shining medieval plate armour, sometimes carrying the instruments of Christ’s crucifixion. In the middle ages, Michael was commonly depicted as a weigher of souls, holding a set of scales, symbolizing his role in the Last Judgement when the “sheep” of Christ will be separated from the “goats” who rejected Him.
This last is in accord with the eastern theology in which Michael is referred to as a “psychopomp,” from the Greek word ψυχοπομπός, psychopompós, literally meaning the 'guide of souls'. These are creatures, spirits, angels, demons, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afterlife.
A 14th century colouring page: St. Michael slaying the dragon
Here’s our little bonus present: three downloadable, and printable, versions of this well known medieval depiction of St. Michael from a 13th or 14th century manuscript. One is the original, with a bit of colour saturation improvement, the second is the copy I made as a colouring page, and the third and fourth have a grid added over top to help those learning to draw.
Now, there’s no reason at all to follow the colours used in the original image if you don’t want to, but just in case you’re wondering, the image here - which I’ve done a bit of digital enhancing on to make it easier to see - probably mostly uses the following pigments:
Gold leaf (mainly the background panel directly behind the angel
Vermillion (orangey-red)
Indigo (dark blue)
Ultramarine (lighter blue)
Lead white (don’t use toxic lead white, Titanium white is fine)
Lampblack ink (ink made from the soot collected from burning oil lamps)
Verdigris (a green pigment made from copper, but it’s also toxic, so some other green is fine)
These are the PDF downloads. The first two are the original image, with slightly improved colour saturation, and the line drawing I made. The second set have a grid applied over the original image to make it easier to copy for those who’d like to use it to practice drawing. The first one has six squares and the line down the middle, which is ideal for a somewhat more advanced student. The second has the grid set at five by five squares
I hope you enjoy them.
Scripture and other ancient text references
Michael makes his first named appearance in Scripture in the prophet’s last vision recorded in the Book of Daniel. He is named, by another angel, probably Gabriel, as an angel sent to assist the prophet and the Israelites in Persian captivity. The name, Michael, translates to an enigmatic rhetorical question in Hebrew: "Who is like God?" a rhetorical question implying the only possible answer, "No one is like God." It serves to glorify God's power and uniqueness.
The passage in Chapter 10 contains one of the most gripping descriptions of an angel in all literature:
In chapter 12, Michael is also named as a protector:
And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
Michael is named also in the Book of Enoch, an ancient Hebrew apocalyptic text3. He is listed as one of the seven archangels, also including Raphael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Remiel, signifying his high status among the angelic hierarchy. The Book of Enoch portrays Michael as a defender of those who dwell on Earth (Chapter 40).
Finally, Michael is named in the book of Revelation as the leader of the heavenly forces in the war against Satan:
While both Eastern and Western art developed established iconography for Michael over time, the early period reveals these fascinating regional differences. As one would expect, the East favoured a more symbolic and standardized approach, while the West embraced greater artistic variation and incorporated more culturally immediate representations.
I don’t know if the feast traditionally had an octave, but at this website, ALL feasts have octaves if we say they do.
Obviously this is an apocryphal story, since the Armada was blown back in July, not September.
The Book of Enoch is not considered part of the biblical canon by any major religious group, including Judaism and Christianity.
What a delight to read and see what you've shared on St. Michael!
By the way, there is one other scriptural reference to St. Michael besides those in Daniel and the Apocalypse. St. Jude in verse 9 of his epistle also refers to St. Michael contending with the Devil over the body of Moses. "When Michael the archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses, he durst not bring against him the judgment of railing speech, but said: The Lord command thee."
Wow - thank you for such a splendid compilation.