Explore the Reception of this artwork.
Raphael's painting was chosen as the central topic for Charles Le Brun's first class session at the Academie royale de peinture et de sculpture in 1667. During the lecture, he compared St. Michael's musculature to that of sculptures of Apollo. Charles also noted that even though the image is frozen still, the positioning of St. Michael's body suggests movement. In opposition to this action, the facial expression of the angel is very calm and collected. This is a reference to the authority that heaven has over hell. These insights that the professor made from this painting were then used as the building blocks to French classicism especially at the Academie royale de peinture et de sculpture. Three concepts that Charles grasped from Raphael's painting include: monotone color scheme to keep things connected within the composition, having a main concept that's simple, and positioning the human form in some kind of way to create the illusion of movement. These were key in understanding French classicism during this time period.
Michael Raphael Academie royale de peinture et de sculpture classicism Charles Le Brun Apollo