St. Michael the Archangel (detail; M 017) Badge

In this detail from Three Archangels and Tobias by Francesco Botticini (1446-1498), a minor master of the Early Italian Renaissance, St. Michael has auburn hair, a white openwork halo, a short red cape with a green lining, worn over 15th-century plate armor, and dark wings. In his outstretched right hand, his sword arm, he holds his weapon at the ready, ready to handle any danger on the open road. In his free hand, he holds an orb, a symbol of authority, or a weight, a reference to his role in the weighing of souls at the Last Judgment. (Neither attribute--not sword nor orb--is visible here.) + Feast: September 29 + Image Credit (M 017): Detail of Three Archangels and Tobias, by Francesco Botticini (1446-1498), tempera on panel, 60 5/8” x 53 1/8” (154cm x 135cm), Florentine Italian, ca. 1470, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy. {{PD-Art|PD-old-100}}. From an antique Stengel postcard in the designer’s private collection.