Saint Michael 1509 - 1521

Agostino Veneziano created this engraving of Saint Michael sometime in the first half of the 16th century. The image presents the archangel Michael standing triumphantly over the devil, and connects to a long history of religious art used for instruction and inspiration. What’s interesting here is the way the print medium opens new possibilities for that religious function. Italy, at this time, was a place of rapidly expanding print culture, and artists like Veneziano were experimenting with the reproduction of images for a growing market. We see Michael, a symbol of divine power, but also of the church’s authority, rendered in a newly accessible form. Was this a challenge to traditional forms of religious authority? Or a reinforcement of them? To understand its place in the culture, we can research the patronage system for art at the time, the role of the church as a consumer of art, and the ways new technologies reshape the consumption of images.