The Appearance of St. Michael on the Castel Sant'Angelo to Pope Gregory the Great

Domenico Beccafumi painted this Appearance of Saint Michael on the Castel Sant'Angelo around 1519, depicting the apparition of the Archangel Michael atop the great Roman monument that was said to have occurred in 590 AD, ending a devastating plague. The apparition at the Castel Sant'Angelo was one of the most famous miraculous interventions in Rome's history, and the monument was subsequently dedicated to the archangel and renamed in his honor. Beccafumi's treatment of the angelic apparition deployed his characteristic proto-Mannerist visual language: the supernatural figure of Michael shown with the explosive energy of his divine mission, the dramatic sky and architectural setting creating the sacred atmosphere appropriate to miraculous revelation. The subject served both devotional and historical functions, the painted miracle asserting Rome's special relationship with divine protection.

Beccafumi's Mannerist style transforms the miraculous event into a visionary composition with iridescent color and elongated figures. The dramatic apparition of the archangel above the Roman monument demonstrates his gift for combining earthly and supernatural elements.