Six-Winged Seraph
1904
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Location in museum
The Benois Wing,
Room 66
Open the panorama of the hall in the virtual tour
- Period Late 19th century – Early 20th century
- CategoryBiblical Subject
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Six-Winged Seraph is linked to the theme of the prophetic mission of the artist, one that greatly occupied Symbolists of various lands and times. From the 1890s onwards, inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s poem The Prophet, Mikhail Vrubel dedicated a series of compositions in painting and graphic art to this theme. The artist seems to paint an inner vision of a “fire-like” messenger of God, an angel with a fiery gaze, the patron and merciless judge of the artist-prophet, reminding artists of their sublime mission and calling them “to burn people’s hearts with a word” and awaken their souls “from the trifles of everyday life with majestic images.” Vrubel’s inner experiences of the time when he was working on Fallen Demon are reflected in the painting’s sublime construction and its assiduity of feeling. The startling tones conjure up associations with the Byzantine mosaics in Venice and Ravenna seen by the artist in his youth.