Let's talk about Angels and Demons, Michael and Satan, and their depictions in art and iconography.

Going to start with a comparison of the Western Renaissance style depiction of Michael casting out Satan and its equivalent in classical Eastern iconography.

And again, these are just casual thoughts and observations of a layman, so take as you will.

Both scenes draw inspiration from John's Apocalypse, the left more on the War in Heaven, with East on the right focusing on the final defeat with Michael as the Angel of the Apocalypse.

In the Western depictions, the major focus is on the event itself with Satan as a major focus along with St, Michael. He's clearly outmatched and defeated, but exists as an imposing figure that has been subdued.

In the icon, it is clearly an icon of St. Michael himself, with Satan as a minor figure, overwhelmed as Michael is on his horse, trumpet in mouth, weapon, Gospel, and censer in hand.

St. Michael stands triumphant over the abyss with the cities and Satan cast down below.

Reminds me of the scene in the Epistle of St. Jude about the dispute between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses. At the present time Satan is given that allowance as an imposing figure but in the end, he is soundly and overwhelmingly destroyed.

There exists the type of Western-inspired icons of Michael triumphing over Satan, but there are also other icons of Michael outside of the Apocalypse contending with Satan and the demons, mostly in the context of defending man.

In both of these icons, Michael stands victorious over Satan in defense of man. The left the demon appears more in the "sprite" depiction and the right in the common "old man" appearance.

Let's first talk about Satan as the old man. This is a common depiction of him, such as in the Nativity icon tempting St. Joseph the Betrothed to doubt the virgin birth or in the Resurrection icon, weak and bound as Christ stands victorious over Death and Hades.

Now let's talk about the sprite, my favorite depiction of the demons. Simply glancing at this icon you might not even notice Satan, but he's there as that little black sprite at the end of Michael's spear, without detail or personality, no match at all for God's angelic commander

We see this again and again such as in the Ladder of Divine Ascent icon. The demons as little sprites, no defining detail, but existing to drag us down. Rejecting God, they are without light, existing as shadows.

But like a shadow, the Light easily disperses them.

I think both depictions have their place. I prefer the more "graphic" depictions of demons when paired with the saints battling them, the idea of the saints overcoming them in that spiritual battle

We all know how tough the fight against sin is, how monstrous the temptation.

But the sprites capture the essence of what demons actually are. They are pure nothingness, a lack of features, like the flies of Beelzebub, prodding at the saints of God, but with no power but that which we give them

Remember that they have no real strength, not even over swine

And if enjoyed this thread, please consider submitting a story about a favorite lesser known saint! Accepting them through the end of the Apostles' Fast (June 29th). In the end, one will randomly be chosen to win an icon! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdy2tT0YSi8HsNXSBjbQo__3QZ69U2YNkFTAaeKxBRA0b6X7w/viewform