The Fall of the Rebel Angels

What you are looking at

The archangel Michael swoops down from the top of the canvas, sword raised high in his right hand, wings spread wide. He wears a blue breastplate and a billowing rose-pink cloak, and he plants one foot on a pale sphere of light. Beneath him, the rebel angels fall. They are heavy, muscular, naked men, their skin darkening as they tumble into shadow, arms thrown over their heads, bodies twisting over one another into a writhing heap at the bottom of the picture. One, at the right, still reaches up toward Michael.

The painting is by Sebastiano Ricci (1659–1734), one of the most successful Venetian painters of his generation, and dates from about 1720. It is in Dulwich Picture Gallery in south London.

The story

The war in heaven comes from the Book of Revelation (12:7–9): "Michael and his angels fought against the dragon... and the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan... and his angels were cast out with him." Later tradition, and Milton's Paradise Lost, made the rebels a host of angels led by Lucifer, thrown down for their pride.

Ricci shows the moment of victory. Michael does not even need to strike; the rebels are already falling, and his raised sword is a gesture of command.

Looking closely

The composition is a steep diagonal from Michael's sword at top left to the tangle of bodies at bottom right. Notice the contrast of color and light. Michael is painted in high, clear Venetian colors, blue, pink and white, and set against the glowing sphere behind him, which may stand for heaven or the world. The falling angels are painted in warm browns and greys and sink into a smoky darkness.

Ricci's rebels are not monsters. They have no horns, tails or bat wings, only the bodies of athletes. That choice, which goes back to Michelangelo and the Venetian tradition of Tintoretto, makes the fall a tragedy rather than a spectacle.

Context

Ricci worked across Europe, including London from about 1712 to 1716, where he painted for aristocratic patrons and competed for the commission to decorate the dome of St Paul's Cathedral. His light palette and fluent brushwork helped shape the Rococo, and his influence runs directly to Giambattista Tiepolo.

Where to see it

The painting is in Dulwich Picture Gallery. See also The Fall of the Damned and Fallen Angels in Art and Baroque Art.