St Michael - Southern Italy or Sicily End of the 17th century

This remarkable ivory represents Saint Michael slaying the demon. This episode illustrates the outcome of the struggle between the archangel and the rebellious angels as it gave us in the Apocalypse of Saint John. Perched on the body of the demon, Michel dressed in an antique breastplate and armed with a shield in his left hand, raises the opposite arm ready to strike. The dynamism of this figure invites us to compare it with the baroque creations of southern Italy and Sicily at the end of the 17th century and at the beginning of the 18th century. The extreme refinement of this ivory with its detailed and meticulous sculpture is also reminiscent of the art of the "corallari" workshops of Trapani. Its style and the typology of its base allow us to compare it with a group in ivory and sculpted coral representing the Flight into Egypt, produced in Trapani at the beginning of the 18th century and put on sale at Christie's in 2015.