The Seven Archangels (CP 001; Chromolithograph) Card

Outside of Italy, nowhere was the cultus of the Seven Archangels more popular in Western Christendom than in Germany. Here, the Seven Archangels appear on a late 19th-century German devotional print (in everyday language: a holy- or prayer card) in vibrant colour—reds, bright blues, violets, and emerald greens. (Compare M 034, the engraving by Hieronymus [Jerome] Wierx from c. 1600.) + At the top of the image are the Holy Trinity with symbols of the Evangelists (centre); the Blessed Virgin Mary with SS. Peter and Paul (left); and, SS. John the Baptist, Stephen the ProtoMartyr, and Lawrence of Rome (right). The size of these figures is not indicative of their theological importance. Rather, their reduced size is a function of composition in perspective that indicates a great distance between figural groups in the picture plane and emphasizes the Archangels as the focal point of the artwork. + The Seven Archangels, their names inscribed in their haloes—albeit nearly impossible to read even when magnified, are depicted with their attributes. Reading from left to right, the Archangels are as follows: St. Raphael (“God Heals”) bears an apothecary’s jar and holds the hand of the youth Tobias who carries a fish. With a salve made from fish guts, St. Raphael healed Tobias’s father of blindness and his future wife from possession by a demon. Uriel (or Ariel; “God Is My Light”) wields a sword. He may have expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden after The Fall. A flame burns at his feet. St. Gabriel (“Strength of God”) is usually portrayed with a spray of lilies. Here, however, he carries a lantern that bounces light off a mirror of jasper. The lantern symbolises the Word of God; and, the mirror of jasper--a mineral with occlusions that nevertheless takes on a reflective sheen when polished—symbolises our flawed understanding of God’s nature. In the centre, a tall, armour-clad St. Michael (“Who Is Like God?”) carries a battle standard and palm of victory. He crushes Lucifer in the guise of a dragon underfoot. Sealtiel (“Prayer for God”), here with eyes raised, folds his hands in prayer in front of his chest. Jehudiel (“God’s Justice”) carries a crown and a scourge (the heavenly equivalent of a carrot and a stick). And, finally, Barachiel (“God’s Blessings”) holds out a fold of his mantle filled with flowers for strewing or dispensing. + Like Wierx’s engraving of c. 1600, the original chromolithograph includes inscriptions beneath the image but in German instead of Latin. The first is Biblical (Apoc. 1:4); the other, explanatory. Neither is visible here. + Joint Feast of SS. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael: September 29 + Image Credit (CP 001): Antique devotional print of St. Michael and Archangels (The Seven Archangels), originally published in chromolithography by Carl Poellath, Schrobenhausen, Germany, late 19th century, No. 606, from the designer’s private collection of religious ephemera.