Saint Michael the Archangel

The artwork

Under the archangel's foot there seems to be a little angel, but it has bat's wings and donkey's ears: it is the devil in disguise. It comes printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• A young, fair-haired saint on a tall, narrow panel.
• The slender format works well between two windows, in a hallway or an entrance hall.
• A gift for someone called Michael, for a name day, for anyone who loves sacred art.

The panel comes from the church of San Michele Arcangelo in Pontorme, near Empoli: the village where Jacopo Carucci was born in 1494 and from which he took the nickname we know him by. He painted it around 1519, at the age of twenty-five, for the church of his home village.

Saint Michael is the leader of the heavenly armies, the one who defeats the devil. He usually crushes him in the form of a dragon or a monster. Not here: the devil looks like a child, and it is precisely the disguise that makes him unsettling. The panel is on display at the exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome, courtesy of the Archdiocese of Florence.

Between two windows, in a hallway or an entrance hall: it is the gift for a Michael, for a name day, for anyone who loves sacred art and surprising details.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 29 x 42 cm (11.4 x 16.5 in)
Framed size: 31 x 44 cm (12.2 x 17.3 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with a gold fillet, handmade, with glass