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MICHAEL ARCHANGELIS VANQUISHING SATAN
He stands triumphant, one foot upon the earth, the other upon the chest and right arm of his vanquished brother. He is radiant, his wings spread in full splendour, the plumes containing all color. For his battle dress he wears a white tunic and golden girdle, golden and blue ornamental sandals. In his right hand he holds a spear which he is thrusting into his brother's neck. It has just entered and there is a spurting of blood. In his left hand he holds the scales of Justice. In the uplifted right cup there is a human figure praying, in the left a figure bent over, hands raised to its face in an attitude of anguish.
Beneath the Archangel lies Satan, naked, goat-horned, looking like a vanquished Pan. Satan lies flat upon the ground, his useless pitchfork, twin-pronged, held limply in his left hand. With his right hand he is reaching out to capture the soul in anguish in the left cup of the balance. The triumphant foot of Michael Archangelis prevents him from forever doing so. But look how, in near death, that evil hand is still reaching.
Ravello Cathedra
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