How the mighty, etc...

I was reminded today how big Fallen Angels are in contemporary culture, with a poster advertising another "young adult" book series.

There's something rather majestic and inspiring about the idea, possibly at least in part because I'm a bit hazy about the details of the various theories.

But artists and poets down the ages have addressed the themes, so it's impossible to have avoided picking up the odd snippet about the fall of Lucifer (whose name apparently means, rather poetically of itself, Morning Star)...

... giving Renaissance sculptors yet another opportunity to show writhing and contorted man-muscle (or, rather, angel-muscle), always in the throes of ecstatic agony (or possibly agonising ecstasy).

I'm probably completely misunderstanding, but it all seems so unfair on the fallen ones and their offspring (or "Nephilim"). I mean, who's going to beat God in a battle?

Archangel Michael, the leader of the forces of light, emerges victorious, here in a fabulous sculpture by Jacob Epstein he's shown crushing Lucifer under his feet.

However, it's possibly just jealousy on Michael's part: as we can see in the sideways view, Lucifer appears to have a massive bronze cock:

Most contemporary "art" of fallen angels appears to show them either as some sort of sex fiends or as cartoon sulky adolescents:

But I'd like to end this brief survey with one depiction to which I'm rather partial:

I don't know whether or not he's intended to be fallen, but he's sufficiently angelic to have aroused my interest.