The Angel Binding Satan
Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg
ca. 1797
This was one of the seventy-two paintings commissioned from 1789 onward by the London print seller and picture dealer Thomas Macklin (1752/53-1800), who planned to print an illustrated folio Bible in six volumes to promote "the glory of the English school" of painting and engraving and "the interest of our HOLY RELIGION." The subject here is borrowed from the account in the Book of Revelation (20: 1-3) of "the binding of Satan" by the Archangel Michael. Loutherbourg produced the largest number of paintings for Macklin's Bible (sixteen, in addition to 111 vignettes). The other artists who contributed to the venture included Sir Joshua Reynolds, Benjamin West, Angelica Kauffmann, John Opie, Richard Cosway, Richard Westall, and Henry Fuseli. The subscription list for 703 copies at £46 1s. each was headed by the King and Queen, and the Prince of Wales.
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven · Image: Yale Center for British Art, Public domain · Text: Yale Center for British Art, CC0