Manuscript Leaf Cutting from a Choir Book with an Illuminated Initial B and the Archangel Michael

Unknown

second half of the 15th century · Tempera, gold, silver, ink on parchment · Medieval Art

During the late Middle Ages devotion to the archangel Michael, believed to have vanquished Satan, intensified. Michael's armor, rendered in silver, suggests his role as the patron of knights and warriors. His halo seems to give his hair a golden luminosity.

Artist

Unknown

Date

second half of the 15th century

Medium

Tempera, gold, silver, ink on parchment

Culture

Italian

Department

Medieval Art

Credit line

Gift of Bashford Dean, 1923