El Archangel Michael: Saint Of Protection

Saint of Protection
The painting of El Archangel Michael is the attributed to Juan Correa of Mexico. It is oil on canvas portrait style of painting, in which the artist has made use of implied lights space to bring the piece to life and to truly personify the Archangel Michael as a powerful other worldly entity. The painting represents Saint Michael, the guardian of faith from the Roman mythology, making it is a religious piece of art. The painting has vertical lines and is more taller than wider. Correa uses a combination of warm and cool colors on Michael garments to further encompass Michael as being born from sunlight and of royalty. With the use of space under Michael wings and around his head, it gives the impression of flight and focuses the viewers’ attention center ward towards the archangel’s gold emblazoned armor. The first time I glanced at the piece, I was …show more content…
The oil hung off the canvas, creating the illusion of 3D space and causing the figure of Michael to almost pop off the canvas. The canvas itself was quite large, and mostly vertical with the archangel taking up most of the center space. You could feel a sort of pressure and caused the figure to seem slightly imposing. The artist intrigues the viewers by creating more than one area of interest in a very detailed and eye catching way. The chiaroscuro of the piece is balanced evenly with Michael standing in a dark and ominous space illuminated by the sun, and also shows that even though it is a bright and heavenly figure, his mission require him to persevere against darkness. The painting is unified in its composition. The painting was made by a Hispanic artist from Mexico during the time of Spanish Colonial Expansion but it looks like it was made by a European artist. This shows the Roman influence in painting techniques that of Hispanic