Onslaught of the Unseen

The triptych format was exemplified in many Netherlandish Christian art of the early 15th – 16th century including the works of some of my favorite artists like Hieronymus Bosch, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Rogier van der Weyden and Jan van Eyck. As an enthusiast of classical Western art history, I’ve always found this subject to be rather intriguing. While the theme of spiritual warfare has commonly been depicted by many artists throughout history, I can’t help but realize that it has largely been portrayed in anthropomorphic ways. Examples of this may be seen in Peter Paul Rubens’ War in Heaven; Albrecht Dürer’s woodcut, Saint Michael Fighting the Dragon and Gustave Doré’s set of etchings on the theme of spiritual conflicts for his celebrated illustration of Milton’s Paradise Lost. The depiction of these spiritual entities are almost always limited to winged-angels and horned-demons portrayed in familiar human forms to represent the good and evil forces. This strikes me as dualistic and essentialistic which does not seem to capture the wider scope of the biblical spirit world. In contrast, I also noticed that there are only a small handful of paintings and drawings that seek to present spiritual beings and spiritual conflict in a more imaginative, visceral and dynamic way where spirit beings come in all shapes and forms. Examples of this may be seen in works such as Bruegel’s The Fall of the Rebel Angels and Bosch’s right panel of The Haywain Triptych.