St. Michael by Develv on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

I started this work back in 2017 and put it on the back burner. Now it's the new year 2024, I remembered that I haven't drawn my favorite archangel for a long time. Let me remind you that in Byzantium the image of angels was formed on the basis of palace eunuchs, whose androgynous beauty is compared with the pure beauty of angels, which is why I was interested in reconstructing this image.

"The angels' appearance, stature, gait, and role in the celestial palace mirror the functions of eunuchs in the terrestrial court. As in the celestial court, access to the emperor passes through the rings of eunuchs surrounding his throne. This angelic guard is characterized with long and slender bodies, snowy white skin, and radiant garments of purple and gold. The image of these angels reveals the Byzantine perception of the ideal court eunuch: young, possessing extraordinary beauty, with radiant skin and hair, dressed in purple-golden silks and linens (Res: Anthropology and Aesthetics, 51: Spring 2007)"

"Another possible explanation can also be derived from physiognomy, though coining to adverse conclusion. The handsome eunuch, whose physical beauty reflects the beauty of his soul, is a common subject in writings from the early Byzantine period. The vision of the luminous beauty of eunuchs, associated with purity and the soul's beauty, finds an important development in relation to angels, resulting in eunuchophilia. Eunuchs and angels are both royal messengers and they both introduce dignitaries to the sovereign. A dream-interpreting work, dated from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, indicates that if one dreams of a gracious and tall eunuch, the eunuch should be considered an angel, because a eunuch resembles an angel an being pure and does not feel carnal desire (Drexl 1925:10)."
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My other arts with Archangel Michael