Luca Giordano
Giordano was an incredibly active painter, prolific until the end of his life, and is currently credited with some 2,000 paintings. He worked successfully in Naples, Rome, Florence, and Venice, before spending a decade in Spain. During the ten years spent there (1692 to 1702), Giordano carried out major decorative commissions in Madrid, Toledo, and the Escorial. He had an incredible ability to mimic the work of other artists; for example, here we see how inspired he was by the Spanish-Neapolitan court painter Jusepe de Ribera.
When some of the angels rose up against God, the Archangel Michael cast them into the abyss of hell. The distorted faces of the defeated angels (now become devils) crying out in desperation demonstrate the crass realism of Jusepe de Ribera's paintings. Giordano's palette, in turn, was influenced by Venetian painting, and this can be seen in the subtle coloration of St. Michael. It is not known for which church the altarpiece was originally intended. In the late 18th century it was taken from Vienna’s Minorite Church to the imperial picture gallery.
We present today's spectacular work (it's amazing when seen live!) thanks to our beloved Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) in Vienna. <3
P.S. I visited KHM last summer; here you can read more about my own and other DailyArt Magazine authors' experience of visiting museums during the pandemic.