The Lucifer Painting, also known as “Fallen Angel” is a masterpiece created by Alexandre Cabanel.
Below we will look at the summary of Lucifer Painting, and while discussing its stylistic characteristics and popularity, we will also go through the reason behind making it.
So, keep your seat belts fastened, and let’s dive deeply into mystic art history!
Quick Painting Summary
| Artist | Alexandre Cabanel |
| Date Painted | 1847 |
| Medium | Oil on Canvas |
| Genre | Religious Painting |
| Period/ Movement | Academic Art |
| Dimensions | Approx. 121 x 189.7 centimeters |
| Series/ Versions | An earlier version exists as a study, completed in 1846 |
| Where is it hosted? | Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France |
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Contextual Interpretation & Analysis
The artist made almost the same Painting earlier this year, but this variation differs. This demon is a gorgeous fallen angel. Buffed, toned, and wearing a six-pack, he could be on Love Island if you gave him a buzz cut, a tattoo, and a pair of Speedos.
About the Artist- Alexandre Cabanel
The artist of the Painting of Lucifer is Alexandre Cabanel. Well-known French painter Alexandre Cabanel is famous for his paintings related to natural, classical and religious depiction.
Having a chance to mold the minds of many artists, he was also one of Napoleon’s three favorite artists.
Being famous and influential at Paris Salon, he also served as a Judge for many art competitions.
With that being said, here is to mention firmly that many artists drew Lucifer paintings, but none of them got much admiration as the paintings of Lucifer Cabanel made.Â
What is the Meaning Behind the ‘Fallen Angel’ Painting?
A rebellious or sinful angel expelled from Heaven is a fallen angel. However, Biblical interpreters frequently use the term “fallen angel” to refer to fallen angels, such as Satan, demons, some Watchers, or angels who have sinned and been cast to the Earth from the War in Heaven.
Here arises the intriguing question, why is Lucifer crying in the Painting? As The Fallen Angel draws our attention to the image of the insulted Lucifer, the image in the artwork captures a scene from the War in Heaven, maybe the instant after Jesus left the celestial realm and entered the terrestrial.
The Popularity of Lucifer Painting
Sources claim that the jurists were “struck” when they viewed “The Fallen Angel” Painting since it was one of the earliest works of art to include the Devil or Satan as the subject matter. The Fallen Angel painting price is still veiled.Â
At the age of 24, Cabanel created The Fallen Angel in 1847. He spent some time in Rome due to winning the “Second First Prize” of the Prix de Rome, which provided French painters with a scholarship to live in Rome for many years and study the classical masters of antiquity.Â
The scholarship was established in the 1660s by King Louis XIV.
Getting inspiration from Lucifer’s Painting in s 1797, he started giving devoted time to his artwork. As he studied in Rome and copied works from the extensive collection of Renaissance paintings, Cabanel was exposed to the Lucifer Painting Renaissance techniques when he lived there. He also presented images to the Paris jury on an annual basis.
According to reports, he liked Renaissance painting too. Fellas, you will be surprised to know that Lucifer painting’s tattoos are being made and sold repeatedly. People also love to hang Lucifer’s Painting’s wallpaper in hotels and rooms.Â
Cast out of Heaven- Portraying the Devil:
One of the primary reasons for his popularity is the Devil’s Depiction because almost all religious and historical paintings include saints, angles, or some heroic figure. So, it was the first academic Painting portraying a Devil in it.
If you are wondering who is the Fallen Angel in the Painting, then it is Devil. Artist took inspiration from the poem of John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667). Being under the same genre and Biblical narratives about Adam and Eve, their disobedience of them and the rebellious attitude of Satan against God can be seen in this Fallen Angel.
Subject Matter:
If we go to the details and interpret the essential subject Fallen Angel, we would realize that a nude figured Devil is surrounded by rocks, leaning and half reclining.
Looking like a hilly area in some distance, or we can also say that he is at the top of the mountains.
A green vine is around him; it extends from the foreground to the right over the rock, beneath the Devil’s knees, and out of sight. Several angels are floating in the vast sky, blending in with the blue skies above him and seemingly behind him owing to his elevation.
The focal point is the Devil’s figure in this Painting, filling up the foreground with his large wings, and it seems like he is posing too.
Having brown, bushy, short hair, he also supports his tensed reclining posture. And if we look closely, we will also see a teardrop from his left eye, which is quite hidden and shaded. Lucifer’s Painting’s eyes depicted sadness and rage.Â
Color and Light:
There is a contrast in color in The Fallen Angel Lucifer’s Painting, making the foreground look deeper due to the Devil’s center location against the rocks’ dark brown and the flora’s dark green encircling him.
This Angel painting has gloomy surroundings; his skin tone also seems lighter.
Shape and Line:
A pleasing combination of lines and shapes may also be seen in the picture The Fallen Angel, focusing on horizontal and curving lines. For instance, the collective figure created by the several persons in the background appears to echo the Devil’s shape in the front.
Beauty in The Details:
Even though Cabanel, who painted the Painting of Lucifer, was exposed to the most significant Renaissance painters and ancient Roman sculpture and art, The Fallen Angel has been called “Romanticist.” Given the subject matter, it may have been. However, this composition still demonstrates Cabanel’s mastery of Painting and his classical style, which has that distinctive realism.
Final Words:
Cabanel depicted the Devil as a lovely figure expelled from Heaven, depicting him as a young man with the musculature we would expect in Classical Roman statues. Some art sources have also called this creature a “handsome demon.” The widely copied image of Lucifer evolved into a poster child for beauty, a picture of the “bad lad” that so many swoons over and still do.Â
Curious to know where is Fallen Angel painting now? The definitive answer is that it has many copies around the glove. The 19th-century French interpretation of a classic Biblical story is beautiful in all its little touches.
Also, read our previous blog about Painter of the Night.Â
