800 - "Archangel Michael"

 

Here is my finished Byzantine icon for the Archangel Michael.  It's a departure from my other icons, since Michael is the warrior-angel responsible for physically casting Lucifer, the greatest angel of all, out of Heaven for turning against God The Almighty.  So, a very powerful statement to write into an icon.

 

This was an experimental work.  I finished this piece way back in January, but decided to hold off publishing it on JSVB until I reached one of my "century markers", in this event my 800th post. 

I wanted to depict a full figure, and I wanted to paint armor, clothing, and Byzantine-style special effects.  With the primary red, yellow, and blue colours, I ended up with a piece that to my eye resembles Superman.  There are strong parallels between the legend of Superman and the actions of the angels, so it's easy to get their stories entangled.  What I mean is that it's a short leap of faith between believing in the powers of extraterrestrials and those of paranormal religious figures. 

 

This icon is derived from a very specific image drawn from the Ruthenian Wars, located in the region of The Ukraine but many years before there was a country so named.  In brief, the area was being held by the non-Christian Golden Horde, but the invaders were at the very end of their supply lines.  They decided to occupy a series of forts near where Kiev stands today, and hole up for as long as they could.  The Ruthenians, furious with the invaders, sieged the castles in an effort to starve the Horde out.  Although the land had been stripped of resources during the Wars, the Ruthenians were at least on home ground, whereas the unwelcome Horde were aliens to this land.

 

The Christian siege armies carried many icons to the battlefront: images of Christ, Mary, John the Baptist, and others, as reminders to the troops of the importance of retaking the sacred ground.  One standard was the image of Michael I have pictured above, who became the Patron Saint for Kiev. 

 

The message to the Golden Horde infidels would be clear:  just as Michael cast Lucifer from Heaven into Hell, so too would the Christian armies thwart the Horde invasion and throw them out into the wasteland to suffer and die piteously.  Granted, by today's morality, sticking people with swords is a very un-Christian thing to do, but the people were passionate about reclaiming their world, and in a Holy War many atrocities are committed in God's Holy Name.

 

So too by today's views, this icon looks somewhat out of place, or at least it does to me.  I succeeded in creating the painting effects I wanted to achieve, but I am now the owner of a decidedly unfriendly-looking art piece.  It makes a statement, but not one that can be dwelled upon in peaceful meditation.  It shows to me that the war between good and evil forces will certainly take casualties.  As long as people rally to images such as this, or Superman, or some other icon of martial power, then that war is also far from over.