By Keith Walsh
Back in the Middle Ages, centuries before Marvel and DC superheroes gave the simpler aspects of our imaginations the comforting idea that virtues could prevail, images like Archangel Michael Directing The Fall Of The Rebel Angels by Dominico Beccafumi helped people cope with the slow pace of reconciliation.
In the original, and more so in my reproduction, the Archangel has red hair, and looks a little bit like David Bowie, who no doubt misled thousands, if not millions, into the desperation of misplaced allegiance. Despite the lyrics of his song “Look Back In Anger,’ from Lodger, he was no angel but rather an experimental musical prototype. It’s still confusing ten years after his passing to make sense of the arc of his life, to know whether to admire him, or to have pity. ‘You know who I am,’ he said. The speaker was an angel/He coughed and shook his crumpled wings/Closed his eyes and moved his lips/’I think we should be going.’ This occult reference should surprise no one who knows about the psychosis artists sometimes carry in the service of message creation and social change.
In the Marvel comics and films, there is a hero called Angel, a member of The X-Men. He was later transformed into Archangel, a villain with less of a heart for the fallen. DC Comics has the New Earth series, with t celestial beings including the Archangel Michael, first appearing in 1989. No doubt the artists and writers of comic books are more than casually aware of their predecessors in medieval and renaissance artworks of Europe.
Michael Demiurgos (New Earth) | DC Database | Fandom
Warren Worthington III (Earth-616) | Marvel Database | Fandom
One function of art is to present characters and ideals that the viewer identifies with, to inspire higher values and actions. It’s empowering to imagine and flirt with the belief that we have some angelic spirit in us. At our mortal best, we all have the capacity to speak angelically, that is speak magic words of love, that lift someone up, touch their heart, regardless of our native language, be it English, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese, or Vietnamese, and so on. There are approximately 6000 languages or dialects spoken on planet earth.
Archangel Michael’s functional role as someone sweeping the rebels down into hell might bring identification with the primitive impulse to exclude anyone who deviates, or challenges the status quo. This cold side of an angel’s personality, though not desirable, does spark comparison to the reptilian part of our brain, the one that forgets our mammalian evolution, our common humanity, our own frailties and sin. The painting has Michael elevated against a large green leaf, making a connection between the natural order and judgement. Human Resource Managers might be tempted to retitle the work Saint Michael Offers Placements To The Rebel Angels.
The original painting of Saint Micheal Defeats The Rebel Angels (also known by other similar titles) by Domenico Beccafumi was created in 1524, in Siena, Italy, where it resides today. My interpretation was created on a Kindle Scribe and colored in Photoshop.
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