Saint Michael (Raphael)

Saint Michael is an oil painting by the Italian artist Raphael.

[1] The work depicts the Archangel Michael in combat with the demons of Hell, while the damned suffer behind him.

Together with the Saint George, it represents the first of Raphael's works on martial subjects.

[2] An early work of the artist, the painting was executed for Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, in 1504 or 1505 on the back of a draughtboard, possibly commissioned to express appreciation to Louis XII of France for conferring the Order of Saint Michael on Francesco Maria I della Rovere, Guidobaldo's nephew and heir.

In her 2006 study Early Work of Raphael, Julia Cartwright suggests that the work may betray the influence of Timoteo Viti in the gold tinting to the green wings of Michael, while the sinners in the background suggest that Raphael may have consulted an illustrated volume of Dante's Inferno.