St. Michael the Archangel

St. Micheal the Archangel

2022

This page will go through the entire process behind making this piece. The meaning behind how certain things were done, why details are conveyed in such a way, and certain stories that Archangel Michael conveyed to me that relate to details within the piece. This will be an in-depth description of this devotional artwork.

Disclaimer:

These depictions are based purely on how these entities wished to convey themselves to me, the artist. When making these portraits I ask them to describe their most common and most comfortable appearance, as I wish to make these in complete devotion to them, therefore they have full control over their appearance in the drawing. Everyone visualizes the entities they work with differently, they appear different to certain people based on their pre-conceptualized notions. If the depiction, description, or story behind certain parts of their appearance does not match or align with your practice, that is perfectly fine. Please do not send hate to the artist over differences in religious practices. These pieces are based on the artist's experiences and how the entities have wished to convey themselves to them. Please note that any stories that are shared have been communicated to the artist by the entity themselves but everyone’s perception and telling of it can be different.

Pose and Body Language:

Let us begin with how the figure is positioned within the frame of the drawing. Body language is important to any artwork, and for these devotional pieces that is no different. Many sketches were done where the figure was turned slightly or the sword was held off to the side. There was also a lot of experimentation on whether the sword should be held up, ready to attack, or down to the side in a guard stance.

These are references that were gathered in the process of figuring out the body language.

The final decision was to have the figure facing forward with the sword planted in the ground before him. This was done due to the fact that Michael is known as the “great captain,” the leader of the heavenly hosts. Though he is a fierce warrior he is a protector of “the children of God”, and the commander of the angels. His role as a protector comes first before his role as a fighter. He’s both the sword and the shield, but he will always be a guardian first.

Therefore, putting him in a relaxed defensive pose with his sword down, guard down, not ready nor willing to strike, was a good idea. He is standing straight and forward, attentive and imposing. He does not need a shield as his large intimidating figure is enough to scare off any enemy and also keep him open and approachable enough for anyone in need of his protection.

Parallels with Lucifer:

Michael and Lucifer are brothers (technically all the angels are brothers and sisters in some way but they were closer than most), and there will be a lot of parallels to Lucifer mentioned and referred to in this.

Wings

The wings are very similar to the pattern of a Blue Jay’s wings, but the inside is white. From my personal observations, it was very rare for an angel’s wings to be completely white. (Lucifer was said to be one of the only angels who had mostly white wings.) In the Middle ages during the Byzantine empire, paintings of the angels rarely had completely white wings, often they had many reds, blues, and browns mixed into their feathers. And this was true of how Michael wished to have his wings depicted.

Sword:

In the image, Michael is wielding a Zweihander Flamberge two-handed Long sword. It was used primarily in use during the 16th century and in the Late Middle Ages and was developed from the bastard sword or montante. The Zweihänder acquired the characteristics of a polearm rather than a sword due to their large size and weight and therefore increased range and striking power. There is also a section of the blade that the wielder can safely put their hand on to apply more downward power, effective for strong disarming blows. A Zweihander has an obvious advantage against a long sword and can be used to fight several opponents at once, which is otherwise difficult to do when using a shorter sword. For this reason, the Zweihander was also considered a good weapon for bodyguards, which is why Michael prefers to use it over other weapons.

“Flamberge” describes a particular style of Zweihander. The thing is, “flamberge” just means flame-bladed in French. This type of weapon features a wavy blade that was necessary for aiding the wielder when it came to chopping or parring pikes or spears. An advantage over swords with a straight blade is that a waved blade could better distribute the force of impact and thus was less likely to break. It could also threaten the opponent in a duel and may have withheld them from grabbing the blade.

The pommel of the sword looks similar to the pommel on Lucifer’s blade, although they are made from different materials. The crossguard was referenced off the guard of the sword Michael is holding in Alexandre Cabanel's painting “Expulsion from Eden”.

I love Cabanel's work, the paintings he did are some of the most accurate in my opinion.

Engraved into the blade of the sword are the words “Only fear what is within”. Michael’s sword produces a normal red and orange fire while Lucifer’s sword produces a white flame.

Visible Scars:

Upon his face, Michael has four claw-like scars. Where the scars are you can see a little light blue glow. This is assumed to be parts of the raw energy his form is made of becoming visible.

The story behind this scar. Shortly after The Garden of Eden became a thing, Michael was outside of the garden’s walls to glance over the area that it had been placed into. At this point in time, many of the angels had little interaction with humans and other living animals. Michael was a part of that group as he was the commander of the angels and had little time to be bothered by the happenings of humans. Therefore, exploring the desert-like terrain around Eden was a new experience for him.

So was seeing a Lion for the first time.

Evolution taking its natural course causes strange new animals to pop up on the surface. A lion being one of them. But due to its soft cat-like appearance, Michael assumed that it would be okay to approach, as it was nothing like the giant sea monsters and dragons he was used to battling. So with care, he approached the Lion and attempted to pet it. That was not the right choice as the lion slashed him across the face with its sharp claws, and ran off.

Upon Michael’s hands and feet are crucifixion scars. During the revolution in heaven, Lucifer was remarkably fast in overpowering the forces of heaven and was on his way to overthrowing the kingdom. People underestimated the manpower in Lucifer’s forces and how many individuals rallied behind him. As a last-ditch effort to turn the tides of the war, Michael decided to perform a ritual and sacrifice himself on the cross. He did this so that his body would be recreated in its original form.

He would have the same limitless power he once held when he was first created, as over time the pressure, erosion, and negative effects of the war were wearing him down and causing his mind to become clouded and his body to become weak. As the leader of the angels, he had to be at peak performance as many people were depending on him to succeed.

The ritual was performed against the wishes of God. It was originally to be assisted by Gabriel but he ended up joining in the ritual along with Raphael so their bodies may be recreated and brought back to their original strength. Uriel was the one who assisted with the ritual in the end. The sacrifice was successful and Michael’s body was recreated but at a cost. He lost his humility. Michael’s purpose for existence was to be a defender, protector, sword, and shield. So he returned to his core purpose, which was to defend heaven at all costs with no consideration for the relationship he had with whoever he was battling again.

For those who say that “no that’s not what crucifixion does” think a little harder. Jesus died to purify himself and all of humanity of sin, his human form was destroyed and he returned to his original form and was recreated at it's original power. It does make sense.

From my personal observations, all entities that I have interacted with tell of black vein-like scars trailing from their eyes, down their neck, and over their body in many places; most notably their fingers and toes are completely black with the veins slowly trailing up their body. This is from the overuse of abilities and powers over thousands, the slow erosion of their form, weather, and age becoming visible. Michael stated that these veins started to become visible after the crucifixion ritual, and spread across his body over time.

Jewelry:

Micheal has an eyebrow piercing above his right eye. He's said that he's simply always had it.

He wears a pair of earrings. On the left is one of his feathers, and on the right is one belonging to Lucifer. Lucifer also wears a matching set of earrings. They traded these earrings as a symbol of peace after the second war in Heaven.

The silver collar on Michael’s neck is the same one that Lucifer and all angels evidently have. The collar is a symbol of devotion that will never go away and never can be erased, as it is impossible to take the collar off.

His headpiece reads "Armor is that of a shield" to imply that he doesn't need a shield to protect himself or others, his armor is enough to get the job done.

On his left hand, he wears two rings, one on top of the other, one being made of gold and the other silver. The ring in silver reads “Above” while the one in gold reads “Below”. The ring reading “above” originally belonged to Michael while the one reading “Below” belonged to Lucifer. Lucifer gave Michael his ring before Lucifer began his first revolution in heaven when he asked Michael to join him, but he declined.

The shackles upon Michael’s ankles are symbols of the punishment he received after the war in heaven was over. Michael had performed the crucifixion ritual on himself without God’s permission and was therefore punished for it and forced to face his greatest fears. His greatest fear at that time was Lucifer, but more so his fear of failing Lucifer. Michael at the time felt like he had failed as a protector and as a brother. He will filled with remorse, regret, and guilt at that time swarmed with thoughts of things he could have done differently to achieve a better outcome. For he not only lost Lucifer, but he lost a large portion of his family as well. All the angels who fell with Lucifer were his brothers and sisters, his family, and he felt like he had failed as their brother. That was his greatest fear at the time, and that’s what God decided as his punishment for disobedience.

Gorget:

The gorget that Michael wears has the engraving of a snake on the front of it. This was meant to be hard to see and was barely noticeable by most. When drawing this piece I kept on asking if there were any designs on the gorget which he always replied “no” to. I had a feeling he was lying so I drew some rough designs on it because the space felt weird and empty. After pestering him about it and basically responding “I know there is something there” he admitted that there was, an engraving of a snake in the gorget.

He added this in himself during the revolution in Heaven but before The Fall. He did this as a small symbol of support to his brother Lucifer and his efforts, as he did agree with the mission they were trying to accomplish, but he could not join him in his efforts and had a duty to stand by his brothers and sisters in the kingdom of God. The reason why he did not tell me was that for a very long time it was a detail he attempted to keep hidden from others; for it would have been an act of treason.

Chest Plate:

Michael’s chest plate is a gothic 15th-century plakar chest piece that would have been used in the Holy Roman Empire. The armor is Fluted which refers to the technique, largely exhibited in gothic armor, of creating a raised ridge in armor. While this was primarily done for the attractive appearance it gave to the piece, it also served to strengthen the metal. The detailing on this piece means that it would have been used by nobility in the late 15th century.

In the center of the chest is where the cross lays and it’s surrounded by lines of feathers, stars, and crescent moons. The feathers and stars going up to the cross represent how one should be focused on God.

These bits of the armor have been on the armor since its forging but towards the arm, some engraved designs were added in later. These designs show plants, flowers, the sky, and the moon above. These were added in by Michael shortly after the creation of Eden. On the center of the chest plate close to the abdomen is a symbol that is unfortunately beyond human conception, so I inserted a sigil that bore a close resemblance to it. It is supposedly the true symbol of God which can also be seen tattooed on Lucifer's chest.

Shoulder armor:

The shoulder piece Michael is wearing previously belonged to Lucifer. This is why it is more beat up than the rest of his armor and has Lucifer’s sigil on it. Lucifer discarded the piece during the revolution, which is why the cross is scratched out. The detailing on the piece is red, a color he is often associated with, and the little details in the corners of the armor are supposed to represent peacocks; an animal highly associated with Lucifer. An image of the sun is also detailed in the leather piece.

During the drawing of this piece as the final parts of the line art were coming together, I asked Lucifer to describe any parts of Michael he might have either missed or didn't tell me. Lucifer took this as the time to finally tell Michael that on the inside of the armor piece he was wearing that used to belong to him was engraved the words “Property of Lucifer”. This was due to the fact that angels often wore the same armor pieces and Lucifer didn’t wish for his to get mixed in with someone else’s. But now it was just funny that his brother was wearing a piece of clothing that said such a thing, and that he hadn’t noticed it for 2,000 years. In Michael’s defense, it was very hard to see as it had been worn down over the years. But I have decided to have the text on the outside of the shoulder piece for this drawing so all may see and find it entertaining.

Vanguards:

Both vanguards belonged to Michael but on Michael’s left vanguard you can see a dagger in a sheath slightly hidden under his cape. The dagger is part of a set and bears resemblance to Lucifer’s sword because the dagger used to belong to him.

Cape:

Micheal wears a royal blue cape over his left shoulder that is meant to mirror Lucifer’s cape, which is over his right. He wears the cape over his left arm since he’s right-handed, and therefore needs more range of motion with his right side than left. The cape is also over his left side to cover a large shoulder injury.

When drawing Michael’s portrait I was curious about why he wore a cape and confused because I thought it would be dangerous and risk getting tangled with their wings. The reasoning behind it was very logical. Angels often wear capes for the same reason Japanese warriors would wear long sleeves, it would make it harder to see where their arm/ hand was moving. In the angel’s case, harder to see their wings. If you were battling against an angel the best place to strike would be their wings because then you would practically render them immobile. So the angels would wear capes that would bear a similar color to their wings to make it harder to tell what was their wings, and what was their cape.

And to also answer the question about how they get in and out of their clothing and armor with wings spanning up to 30 feet on their back; they can make the wings dematerialize. And then when they re-materialize the wings they just phaze through the clothing. Yes, when I found the answer to this question I also responded “So the answer is just magic?!”

Thigh armor:

(I forget what the name of this piece of armor is called) The thigh armor continues down with the same pattern on the chest plate but on the side of the armor are engraved two angel wings with a full moon in the center. This is Michael’s heraldry. Someone’s heraldry is often a hereditary symbol employed to distinguish individuals, armies, institutions, and corporations. Michael often uses symbols of the moon to represent himself while Lucifer uses symbols of the sun.

Skirt:

The shirt is made up of several different flaps that are made to be easily moveable and not get caught or stuck anywhere during battle. The embroidery design on parts of the skirt is meant to mimic the patterns in stained glass and the architecture of gothic churches.

Dents in Armor & Tears in Clothing:

We will be talking about the dents and tears in the clothing in the order in which they happened.

Although this had already been mentioned, the first (documented) scar that Michael received was the claw mark across his face from the Lion outside of Eden.

On his cape where his left shoulder is, there is a large tear that happened when the sea monster known as Lotan bit him. Before the days of the war, the angels often spent their time battling sea monsters upon the earth’s surface. A more dangerous task than one would expect, as their wings were easy targets for the monsters to grab onto and then pull them below the surface. And any water that got on their wings would make them heavy and slow them down. Lucifer took on the task of battling Lotan with Uriel, Raphael, and several other angels. Unfortunately, their efforts were not enough and after a hard battle, Lucifer was badly damaged by the sea monster and was forced to fall back. Upon hearing his brother’s pain, Michael rushed down with sword and shield and was able to defeat Lotan with a single blow. But the swift victory was not without a cost as Lotan bit down on Michael’s shoulder, narrowly missing his wings, and broke off a tooth, leaving it stuck in Michael’s arm.

The monster’s venomous bite was an issue, but none more alarming than the fact that his left shoulder (the rotator cuff and humerus), was quite literally destroyed beyond repair, and had to be artificially replaced, (we love and appreciate Archangel Gabriel in this household for being a master healer) Although the physical pain was great, a more prevalent issue would arise. Michael could no longer carry a shield.

Michael once fought with a sword and shield, and this absolute madman would fight with a two-handed long sword while using a war shield. To be fair, his sword was a much lighter weight than Lucifer’s to allow him that range of motion with one hand, but that’s still a very impressive feat. Being right-handed, his sword would be held in his right hand while the shield would be strapped onto his left. As someone who has attempted to lift a war shield, they’re very fuking heavy. And as someone who has a boyfriend who is a trained heavy weapon medieval combat fighter who once had to fight with a war shield, it’s still very fucking heavy. (A full metal war shield is about 30 LBS). The purpose of a war shield is to be able to hide your entire upper body behind it and also guard the spearmen behind you when you’re on a shield wall. When you lift a shield you are lifting with your shoulder and not your forearm, as you require a large range of motion and often need to lift it above your head.

The shoulder injury caused by Lotan rendered Michael unable to hold a shield for a long amount of time, as he no longer had the same range of motion or muscle strength. This severely weakened Michael as he was not used to not fighting without a shield and was forced to very quickly learn how to fight and defend simply with his sword. This became a problem as the war in heaven started shortly after, and Michael was still at half his strength.

This was the main reason why Michael performed the crucifixion ritual and sacrificed himself so his body may be recreated. He thought that if he had his shoulder back to its original condition and was able to properly battle with a shield, he would be strong enough to protect heaven. In the end, this did not work as the ritual can only heal what is broken and restore things to their original state. Since his shoulder had to be artificially replaced, there was nothing to be fixed. Therefore, his body, mind, and strength were replenished but his shoulder was not.

First War in Heaven

During the final battle of the war, Michael was forced to face his brother Lucifer. The two of them were remarkably evenly matched during the battle as they were fighting with similar weapons. Even though Michael wasn’t skilled in fighting without a shield, he was able to match Lucifer in strength and skill. The problem with this battle was that they had spared against one another for a very long time, they knew how the other fought, they knew their tricks, their tactics, their flaws, everything. There were no openings, no easy ways to land a hit and find victory.

An important thing to note is that Michael is right-handed while Lucifer is left-handed. In any normal battle, the left-handed person would have the advantage, as right-handed people often train against other people who are right-handed and rarely ever come into contact with left-handed opponents. And left-handed people very often learn to fight with both hands. But because they were so experienced in fighting against each other, that didn’t necessarily apply. Except for the part where left-handed people learn how to fight with their right hand.

Lucifer knew how to fight right-handed, so during the battle, he switched his stance and the side he was holding his sword on which threw off Michael’s attack pattern and allowed him to get three fatal hits on Michael. The first one grazed Michael’s left jawline, causing his balance to get thrown off as he was forced to back up. The second went up the right side of his torso as he was unable to move fast enough to block the incoming hit, at this point he has just come to the realization that Lucifer had switched which hand he was fighting with and the first hit had dazed him enough to allow Lucifer to get the second one. By the third hit, the battle was already over. Michael was unable to even try and block the hit as the second blow had already left him immobilized. The third hit went up his left arm, across his heart and chest, and up his jawline towards the right.

Artist note: Originally I was confused with the positioning of these scars because when fighting with a greatsword your sword moves in a figure-eight. I began to mock the movements Lucifer would have used (since I know the basics of great weapon fighting) and realized that the reason he landed those hits was because he was fighting right-handed, instead of left. It was a very cool moment where I was just standing in my room with the biggest “OOooohhhh” face ever.

The next set of tears in his clothing comes from what happened a few short moments after being defeated by Lucifer. Upon seeing that his forces had been defeated, God decided enough was enough and set everyone’s wings on fire, causing the feathers to burn away and make them fall into the ocean on earth below. (Side note: Remember that the ocean is still full of sea monsters and that feathers get heavy when wet.) Even though Michael was in pain at the time, he attempted to keep Lucifer from falling and held onto him, causing the left side of his clothing and part of his own wings to burn as well. Unfortunately, his efforts were not sufficient and Lucifer fell with the rest of the angels who rebelled alongside him.

After the battle was when Michael was punished for disobeying god and was forced to confront his greatest fears at the time; which led him to obtain the chains around his ankles.

After the battle and physiological torture was over, Michael returned to his room and changed out of his armor, leaving it on the armor stand. In a wave of pain, grief, rage, and hate against God for the pain that they put him and his brothers through he destroyed all symbols of the cross on his armor. He hated Lucifer for putting him through this pain in the first place and making him take sides. He blamed himself for not being a better leader and a better brother. He felt like he had failed the angels that had joined Lucifer’s forces and that if he had been more proactive as their commander they could have found a peaceful solution.

He hated God for ignoring the issues his brothers brought up and how he was inconsiderate of their personal feelings and identities. He hated himself for failing as a leader and losing those who he cared for the most. But finally, after losing everything he held dear, Michael understood the reason why Lucifer wished to rebel. He understood why Lucifer was angry about being ignored by their creator, being created for a singular purpose with no hope for freedom or ability to express their individuality. In his rage, he dented the front of his armor by punching it with his fist. He used his sword to cut off the bottom half of the skirt. And finally plunged his sword through the center of the cross on his chest.

Interactions with Humans

After the war and the fall of Eden, Michael spent a large majority of his time in Heaven, taking care of the angels and generally doing his job. He didn’t start focusing on humans again till Jesus decided to go down with the task to reincarnate as a human and die to cleanse humanity of their sins they may receive at birth. Michael was against the idea and disguised himself as a human multiple times to go and mingle with the people to gauge whether it would be safe or not. He determined that it was not safe but Jesus went against his wishes and went ahead with his plans; which Michael begrudgingly agreed to help with.

Originally Michael was tasked with being the one to tell Mary the news that she was pregnant but he got nervous and backed out at the last minute and had Gabriel tell her. (Which lead to a different problem because Gabriel ended up scaring the living daylights out of her) Michael basically said that, because Gabriel was a healer it would be better if he told her so that way he could guard the outside of the house to make sure their presence wasn’t noticed.

I love this painting it's so stupid and funny with the perspective.

While Gabriel was inside giving the news Michael believed he spotted something dangerous within the city and went to investigate. It ended up being nothing but he was stopped by a guard who accused him of stealing, since he was in normal peasant clothing but decided to keep his blue cape on. Royal blue is called royal blue for a reason, it is a very rare and expensive color. Before he was arrested he punched the guard in the face and ran off, causing him to be under pursuit by the local police. After running through the streets of Nazareth he was eventually shot with an arrow by a guard which ripped through his cape and punctured the armor that he was luckily still wearing under the disguise. At that, he decided enough was enough and teleported back to Gabriel and continued to wait outside for him. He snapped off the stick of the arrow but left the arrowhead in as it had gone through his armor and was now stuck in his abdomen. He would have gone in and asked for Gabriel’s help, but he was a bit busy at the moment and he didn’t want to frighten Mary.

While waiting for Gabriel to be done he didn’t notice that one of Mary’s goats had begun to eat a part of his skirt that was sticking out under his disguise; since he was trying not to bleed out on Mary’s front lawn. He only realized it once Gabriel came out and started laughing at him for not noticing the goat. Michael decided not to tell Gabriel about the arrow until later because he enjoyed being able to see his brother laugh.

Second War in Heaven

The final (documented) scar was from the second war in heaven after Jesus returned and Lucifer gathered his forces for a second attack. It was once more a long and difficult battle as Lucifer’s forces had strengthened greatly and he had become a better commander and learned from his past mistakes. He was able to properly lead his forces and both he and Michael took very defensive positions, choosing to guide their soldiers rather than to battle one on one. And this time as the angels had the high ground advantage they shot arrows down onto the demons and other fallen angels below. Uriel and Raphael were the ones leading the archers and Raphael saw an opening to land a fatal shot on Lucifer and decided to take it. Michael saw Raphael aiming at Lucifer before he even fired the arrow and instantly, without thinking flew into action. Before the arrow hit Lucifer, Michael blocked it with his body, sending the arrow right through his right knee and making him fall to the surface below.

Lucifer, who saw his brother block the arrow from his archer for him, instantly flew down to catch Michael and land him safely on the ground below. Raphael was horrified as he had just accidentally shot down his commanding officer and Uriel had also seen the actions that just took place. But they thought Michael had accidentally flown in the path of the arrow, and that he didn’t purposely block it. The demons and angels battling had yet to notice that their commanders were gone and the fight continued while Michael and Lucifer were on the surface. Lucifer then apologized to Michael for leaving him and for letting his emotions get the better of him, and for choosing violence instead of trying to talk things out. Michael apologized for not listening to Lucifer’s inquiries and ignoring his feelings. Both of them felt like they had failed as brothers and had in turn failed their families. At that moment they decided to end the war and begin talks of peace between Heaven and Hell. Lucifer and Michael found that their problems were the same problems the realms they had ruled over had. One could not exist without the other.

Michael didn’t tell the others for a long time that he had purposely flown in front of the arrow to protect Lucifer from the blow, as it would have been seen as treason, and he could not risk talks of peace becoming tainted because of that.

Michael now uses it as a running joke to tease Raphael and get him to do certain tasks for him because he “shot him with an arrow that one time.”

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