1865, San Miguel, Manuel Arbós y Ayerbe

This painting depicts the Archangel Michael in mid-air, his large wings spread and golden armor catching the light as he prepares to strike a fallen demon with his lance. The adversary, a personification of Satan with horns and dark wings, lies prone and powerless beneath the angel's foot. The work is a 19th-century copy of Raphael's famous 1518 composition, emphasizing the dynamic tension between celestial grace and infernal struggle.

Michael serves as a central figure in Renaissance angelology, representing the 'Solar Intelligence' and the triumph of spiritual light over material darkness. This iconography aligns with the Neoplatonic concept of the celestial hierarchy and the soul's battle to ascend above the lower, chaotic impulses of the physical realm.