MARTIN SCHONGAUER (CIRCA 1445-1491)

‘And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.’ (Revelations 12:7-9)

Representing the eternal, and ultimately victorious, struggle of good over evil, Schongauer reduces his composition to the central protagonists. Saint Michael, representative of the heavenly hosts, stands upon a struggling but defeated Satan who is about it receive his coup de grâce. The composition is spare and elegant, the S-shaped curve of Saint Michael’s body leading the eye to the raised upper arm holding the lance, and the strong diagonal emphasizing the downward plunge of the impending blow.