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I’ve been an atheist for decades, so it took some poking and prodding and peeling of my psyche to figure out why I like this piece so much: it’s clearly a Christian representation of something-or-other.

I finally identified two reasons I like it. No, three. No, make that four.

1. Good triumphs over evil. I look to art for a moment’s rest – to see the world as I think it can and ought to be – and that includes having the good guys win. Yes, the subject of the painting is the archangel St. Michael, leader of an army of angels at the Apocalypse, triumphing over a dragon whose seven heads symbolize the seven deadly sins. But for me, the explicit story is secondary to the fact that a human being is triumphantly defeating a vicious creature.
2. Swooping, elegant, strong lines. Look at the dragon’s tail, and the way the angel’s wings flare out. The confident lines of this artist pleases me, in exactly the same way the elegant designs on the furniture displayed in the MMA’s Gilded Age exhibition do.
3. Gilt and red. I love that combination. A highly idiosyncratic reaction, but hey, it’s my blog. You do need to see the painting in person to get the full effect. — The gilt background is a medieval trick, like starting a story with “once upon a time” – it sets the story out of time and place. Years ago I saw a one-man show at Arcadia Contemporary of works by Brad Ruben Kunkle, who uses gilt or silver leaf as background to his paintings. I can still vividly recall the the way the light hit those paintings, although the subjects were … peculiar.
4. On the verge of the Renaissance. Around 1300, Giotto painted figures that were startlingly realistic, compared to anything done over the previous millennium. He had an immediate impact on his contemporaries, but the favored style soon veered to the elegant and decorative “Late Gothic”. (Think Hours of the Duke of Berry, ca. 1412-16.) St. Michael and the Dragon is rather a lovely example of Late Gothic.  Soon after it was painted, around 1410-1420, Masaccio, Donatello, and Brunelleschi launched the revolution in style that we call the Renaissance. I’m fascinated by turning points. More on this when I get to Innovators in Painting. (While you’re waiting, try Innovators in Sculpture.)

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