Angelic upstarts: war in heaven
This dizzying painting by Frans Floris sweeps you up in the biblical battle between good and evil. It’s a dense tangle of arms, legs, wings and tails. At the top, the angels loyal to God do battle with the Archangel Michael as their captain. Together, they chase the disloyal angels and demons out of heaven. You can recognize the latter from their frightening, bestial features. Curved talons, genitals like an eagle’s head, clawing hands, the head of a wild boar, a grinning goat. Beneath the feet of the guardian angel Michael, you can see Satan, a red dragon with seven crowned heads.
Rebel angels with an eye for detail
Pectoral and trapezius muscles, pelvises and collarbones: Frans Floris knew their exact position and how they were connected. He incorporated subtle details amongst the writhing bodies, such as the Woman of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation. You can find her in the small gap on the left, near the flaming torch clutched by one of the fallen angels. She stands on a crescent moon, dressed with the sun and crowned with 12 stars. The demonic dragon threatens her, while angels save her child and guide it to heaven. An eagle gives her two wings so she can escape to the desert. In the bottom left, you can see a bee. A symbol for Lucifer in the Bible?
Triptych commissioned by a militia guild
The Fall of the Rebel Angels was the central panel of a triptych. It is the most famous work of Frans Floris, who painted it for the Antwerp fencer’s guild: one of the city’s militias, responsible for public security. The altarpiece hung in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp, above the guild’s altar. Like every other guild or corporation, the fencers had a patron saint, in this case the Archangel Michael.
