2025 Finalists

“Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought, but prevailed not, neither was their place found in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan.”
– Revelations of John (12. 7–9)

In the Revelations of John, Michael acts as the main commander in the war against the dragon-devil. From the lips of the archangel comes the announcement of the Second Coming, the Last Judgment and the End of the World.

The picture was painted by dint of anger, grief and defeat. Having reached a certain point of despair, suddenly comes the frisky energy of anger and you start creating, because there is no more salvation.

The image of angel Michael came into my head by accident. At first I intuitively chose the colours, smeared them on one of my primed cardboards for exercises – I didn’t think that something worthwhile could come out in such a state. Anyway, I thought I would throw it away. But continuing to draw, I realised that this is Michael, the angel who will destroy the Earth with his sword.

Sometimes you wait for it.

So I left the painting and finished it later.

Regarding the image of the angel that I saw appearing in my painting, which may raise some questions, I would like to recall one beautiful story:

«Moses saw that the bush was on fire and was not burnt, and he thought, “I’ll go and see this great miracle – why the bush is not burnt.” When the Lord saw that
Moses had come to see, He called to him from the bush:
   – Moses! Moses!
Moses answered:
   – Here I am.»

(20/25)