St. Michael Vanquishing Satan

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Raphael, St. Michael Vanquishing Satan, 1518
Raphael, St. Michael
Overwhelming the Demon,
 1505
Nothing says "I'm a big deal now" like being asked to revisit a painting by the Pope. Such is the position that Raphael found himself in in 1518, when Leo X commissioned the painter to do a second rendition of St. Michael slaying Satan. The first rendition - completed in 1505 - had been commissioned by the head honcho of Raphael's hometown, Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino. The original painting showcased a Northern European influence in its surreal presentation and apocalyptic preoccupations, and bore a striking resemblance to the style that would later define the work of Hieronymous Bosch. 

The transformation of Raphael's style in the course of a decade is shocking. By the time of the Pope's commission, the dramatic gloom and doom of this early work had been replaced by a fascination with the human form and the warmer palette of the classicist movement. Where St. Michael Overwhelming the Demon seemed primarily concerned with relaying the story of the archangel slaying Lucifer, St. Michael Vanquishing Satan displays a much keener interest in the painting itself. 

By the time of Leo X's request, Raphael had matured enough in his craft that his piece could stand alone and spend less time teaching a bible passage and more time celebrating the process of art itself.

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