This work is entitled The Fall of the Rebel Angels. It is made with oil-on-panel by Flemish renaissance artist Pieter Bruegel on 1562. Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c1525-1569) is one of the world's most postered painters. Hunters in the Snow, The Peasant Wedding, The Fall of Icarus or The Tower of Babel are stuck to walls everywhere. The Netherlandish artist's work has become part of our visual vocabulary – quotable, proverbial, almost anonymous. Bruegel comes across as an inherently democratic painter, part of popular, not elite, culture. He embraces all of life, effortlessly combining comic and tragic. He's a crowd pleaser and his art delights in teeming crowds.
The passage from Book of Revelation (12:7-9) “Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels waged war upon the dragon” is being illustrated by this artwork.
At the top of the painting there is a light that symbolizes heaven and at the bottom part is filled with signs of darkness. The archangel Michael, with a golden armor and armed with his shield and sword, is positioned in the center of the image. St Michael is shown suppressing the seven-headed dragon of the apocalypse, known otherwise as Satan. Under St. Michael are the falling rebel angels screaming as they fall further from the heavens. They transformed from angel into creatures with body parts taken from humans, sea animals, reptiles, toads, plants and even musical instruments. The rebel angels look so chaotic at the bottom part of the artwork. The archangels at the top, by contrast, look weightless. Their bodies are elegant and refined, floating above the chaos. Floating above, in the clear and open blue sky, they appear embodied in a state of grace. The spaces at the top shows the freedom of the good angels compared to the crowded situation of the rebel angels at the bottom.
For me, the art is very meaningful. The rebel angels can also be compared to the current situation of the world where there are more people being challenged by their faith. While the good angels can be compared to those who are faithful to God.
References:
http://arslongavitabreve.com/2013/09/11/pieter-bruegel-the-elder-fall-of-the-rebel-angels-1562-oil-on-panel-118-5-x-162-5-cm-brussels-royal-museum-of-fine-arts-of-belgium/
http://www.artbible.info/art/biography/pieter-bruegel-the-elder
http://www.artbible.info/art/large/485.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/bruegel-pieter-the-fall-of-the-rebel-angels-1562-897006.html
http://www.wga.hu/html_m/b/bruegel/pieter_e/05/32rebel.html
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