Michael Arthistrategos

Name/Title

Michael Arthistrategos

Entry/Object ID

2005.02.081

Description

Painting on flat wooden panel with embossed silver riza (gold in color) on top. The riza depicts a winged man riding a winged horse. Under the horses feet is a winged demon with a goat-man face and a castle. The border of the riza has floral motifs. and a Church Slavonic alphabet caption sits in the center top. There are no hallmark stamps in the rize. In the upper right hand corner of the painted icon is an image of a man shown from the chest up who sits in a pink cloud. In the foreground, Michael Arthistrategos sits upon a white-pink winged horse with golden wings and tunic of his own. He wear a crown and carries a trumpet, a book, staff, and an incense ball. His face is clean shaven and he has shoulder length brown hair. The dark colored demon is hard to discern and the horse tramples him along with a white painted castle. The back of the icon has many holes in the wood and irregular stains.

Type of Painting

Panel

Collection

Betsy Scheuring Icon Collection

Acquisition

Accession

2005.02

Source or Donor

Betsy Scheuring

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Gift of Betsy Scheuring

Made/Created

Time Period

17th Century

Place

Region

Yaroslavl Region

Country

Russia

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Icon

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Symbol, Religious

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Religious Objects

Nomenclature Class

Ceremonial Objects

Nomenclature Category

Category 08: Communication Objects

Dimensions

Height

12-1/2 in

Width

10-3/4 in

Depth

1-1/2 in

Exhibition

Spirit Made Tangible: The Scheuring Icon Collection (2006)

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Cultural/Historical Context

Label

"The Archangel Michael is depicted as the captain of Heaven’s armies, triumphing over evil. He rides on a winged horse, rendered in an unusual pink shade, and he wears a crown. In his left hand appears a lance (shaped like an Orthodox cross) and a censer, while his right hand holds a book. A trumpet proclaiming victory is blown by the Archangel. Underneath the winged horse appears an image of defeated Satan next to a toppled city. In the upper right corner is an image of Christ Emmanuel, who appears before the Hetimasia, a prepared altar symbolizing Christ’s heavenly glory."