  About the Artwork
  
  
  In this life-size sculpture, the Archangel Michael's golden robe sweeps dramatically around his body while his calm face contrasts with the grimacing devil beneath his feet. This statue was commissioned for the altarpiece of the palace chapel of Saint Michael at the center of the castle of Harburg in the present-day German state of Bavaria. The castle was home to the Counts of Oettingen-Wallerstein, a prominent knightly family for whom the archangel served as a protector and model of ideal knighthood.

This exceptional sculpture remained at Harburg for over five hundred years, resulting in the extraordinary preservation of its brilliant original gilding and polychromy. It is part of a closely related group of vibrantly painted and gilt sculptures carved between 1480 and 1500, whose style and identical tool marks attest to their creation in the same workshop.
  
  
  Title
  Saint Michael Vanquishing the Devil
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1480
  
  Artist
  Workshop of the Harburg Master
  
  
  
  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  German
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Limewood with well preserved polychromy
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 64 15/16 × 26 × 15 3/4 inches (165 × 66 × 40 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  European Sculpture and Dec Arts
  
  
  Credit
  Museum Purchase, Robert H. Tannahill Foundation Fund, with funds from the Visiting Committee for European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  2020.1
  
  
  Copyright
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