Line #58 Art/TheFallenAngel


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cabanels_fallen_angel__4.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The {{angst}}y devil himself.]]
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4	Also known as ''L'Ange Déchu'', in its original French name.
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6	Possibly, the oil-on-canvas {{painting\|s}} that Creator/AlexandreCabanel is [[AuthorUsurpation most famous for]]; at least, since the [=XX=]th century.
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8	It depicts [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]] just after he's expulsed from {{Heaven}}, so the feelings of shame, anger, and hurt are very fresh on his countenance -- most famously, his teary, hateful gaze. Lucifer also has his arms crossed over the lower half of his face, hands clasped at his left side, and is tensely laying over a patch of rocky soil with both his wings and muscles coiled tightly. There are blue-tinted angels in the background.
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10	Cabanel painted it when he was still a student and nearly gave heart arrest to the art judges of the Salon of Paris (the place Cabanel aspired to exhibit it). It doesn't help that Cabanel's was the first rendition of the Devil made by a pupil; such a tricky subject was usually reserved for Academic {{Art}} masters only.
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12	Cabanel got his inspiration for this painting from the 1667 [[NarrativePoem narrative]], epic poem ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', which itself is a retelling of the ''Literature/BookOfGenesis''. To be specific, Cabanel drew from the former's descriptions of Lucifer's internal turmoil and anguished monologues; something nonexistent in the latter.
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14	Not to be confused with the trope FallenAngel.
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16	----
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18	!! This painting contains examples of:
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20	* AmbitionIsEvil: Craving for power is Lucifer's FatalFlaw. He first wants to rule over both angels and humans alongside God, but he's rebuked because there can only be one God. Upset about it he hypocritically deems God a tyrant and [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels convinces other angels]] to rebel against him. He loses the war and is banned from Heaven, which causes him great pain but doesn't prevent him from declaring himself the ruler of hell.
21	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: In both the ''Literature/BookOfRevelation'' and ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', Lucifer is depicted as a giant, seven-headed serpent/dragon. Cabanel portrays him as a beautiful young man with curly ginger hair and a muscled body.
22	* AndThatsTerrible: It's such a pity that Lucifer has betrayed God because not only it's obvious he was going to fail, but it also has cost him God's love and favor, and that's the cause of the emotional hurt he's feeling in the painting.
23	* AngelicBeauty:
24	** The subject of the painting is portrayed as an athletic, handsome young man who has retained his feathery angel wings after his betrayal, although they are black now.
25	** {{Subverted}} with the good angels who, upon closer inspection, have poorly-detailed features that aren't ugly but you can't call them beautiful either.
26	* AnguishedOutburst: Losing a war against his adored God and, therefore, having been banned from Heaven have caused quite a number on Lucifer -- he's mourning, pissed, and ashamed about the fallout of his treachery.
27	* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: {{Inverted}} as Lucifer has just been kicked out of the Christian {{Heaven}}. In other words, he has descended from a higher plane of existence and is now sulking at the top of an Earthly mountain.
28	* BeautyIsBad: Cabanel's portrayal of Lucifer is as a [[SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains naked fallen angel]] with a TroubledButCute countenance and a muscled body. Meanwhile, the loyal angels are not that detailed, so they are rather plain-looking.
29	* BerserkerTears: Lucifer is crying tears of rage and humiliation (and a little bit of mourning) over the fact he's been defeated by the forces of Heaven and lost God's favor.
30	* BlueIsHeroic:
31	** The non-fallen angels in the background are blue-tinted. {{Justified\|Trope}} since they are far away and, thus, suffer from [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_perspective atmospheric distortion]]. [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/alexandre_cabanel___fallen_angel.jpg This]] photograph of the painting makes it easier to appreciate.
32	** PlayedWith Lucifer's wings; whatever white is left on them has blue lightning, most of his left wing and the insides of his right wing. However, there are small blue tinges on the borders of the blackened feathers.
33	* ChristianFiction: It's an adaptation of an adaptation of events that were only alluded to in ''Literature/TheBible''. To be more precise, Lucifer's fall from grace after he rebelled against God.
34	* ClimbingClimax: {{Inverted}}. While it's true that Lucifer is lying on top of a mountain, the painting details the aftermath of his rebellion against God, not the actual fight. Furthermore, a mountain might usually be regarded as a high place, but it's a considerable downgrade if compared to Heaven.
35	* CornerOfWoe: Lucifer is atop a rocky mountain, scrunched up with his arms protecting his face, and doing some major sulking because he's no longer welcome in Heaven. Therefore making this trope OlderThanRadio.
36	* CueTheSun: {{Zigzagged}}. It's true that dawn is meant to symbolize how the DivineConflict has, at last, come to an end, resulting in the rebellious Lucifer's expulsion from Heaven. Regardless, Lucifer is the VillainProtagonist of the painting, so, for him, that's terrible news. Add to it that he's turning into a fallen angel, and that's decidedly bad overall.
37	* DarkIsEvil: Lucifer's wings are turning black, starting from the outside. This signifies his fall from grace and his becoming the prince of Hell. Additionally, shadows pool on his face and the clouds below him are black.
38	* DivineConflict: The painting shows the fallout of Lucifer's clash against the Christian God. The former now lies defeated and resentful atop a mountain on the land of the mortals. By contrast, the latter has his loyal angels worshipping him even if he is [[TheGhost nowhere to be seen]].
39	* DivinelyAppearingDemons: Lucifer, our resident [[TroubledButCute fallen angel, is depicted as handsomely muscular]] as Cabanel paints non-corrupted angels in his other works. However, when limiting analysis strictly to the painting's elements, then it's an {{inver\|ted}}sion -- the good angels in the background are poorly detailed enough for it to be impossible to call them beautiful.
40	* DramaticWind: This artwork captures TheClimax of Lucifer's story. Being cast from Heaven after a long war against his beloved God is the turning point for his descent into [[{{Pun}} full-blown]] villainy. Among other things, this is conveyed by the wind tousling his mop of hair, making this trope at least OlderThanRadio. It's {{justified\|Trope}} because, for added RuleOfDrama, Lucifer is nested atop a mountain, so strong winds are no strange occurrence. This also serves to justify why his locks aren't obscuring his eyes, which are the painting's main element.
41	* EvilIsBigger: PlayedWith. Lucifer is probably the same size as the loyal angels, it's just that Cabanel's composition has the former at the very foreground and the latter at a fairly farther background. Consequently, the perspective makes look Lucifer, the titular fallen angel, considerably bigger than the good guys in the back.
42	* EvilRedhead: {{Zigzagged}}. Lucifer, the most prominent element of the artwork, sports reddish ginger hair. Curiously enough, on further inspection, so do almost all of the non-fallen angels.
43	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: This painting is called ''The Fallen Angel'' and is about Lucifer, who just fell from Heaven and is salty about it.
44	* FallenAngel: This artwork captures the aftermath of Lucifer being stripped of his divinity by God and expulsed from Heaven. His wings are a gradient of white to black, signifying his turning into a fallen angel and the king of demons.
45	* FanArt: It captures TheClimax of Lucifer's StoryArc in the epic NarrativePoem ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', which is itself a retelling of the ''Literature/BookOfGenesis''. After losing DivineConflict against God, Lucifer is cast from Heaven and in the middle of a VillainousBreakdown.
46	* FatalFlaw: Lucifer is just too [[AmbitionIsEvil power-hungry]] to accept God's authority and humanity's privileged place in God's plans. He then wages a war against Heaven only to be defeated and cry BerserkerTears over his fate.
47	* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: {{Downplayed}}. It's not very notorious but the region of the sky where the divine angels are flying is dominated by a pale background and sports yellowish clouds, which contrasts with the darker clouds that surround the fallen [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]]. Furthermore, the angels themselves have white wings -- The blackened parts of Lucifer's partially corrupted wings don't have any gold or yellow tinges, while the still-white parts do.
48	* GoodWingsEvilWings: To reflect his fall into darkness, Lucifer's wings are blackening. Meanwhile, the still loyal angels have white wings with a HeavenlyBlue tint. Though all of the wings are depicted as bird-like, regardless of alignment.
49	* HandOrObjectUnderwear: PlayedWith. While the nude Lucifer's leg is the only thing standing between the viewer and his crotch, the reason both out and InUniverse is not shame nor censorship. Well, it is about shame but not in the traditional sense. In Christian art, Lucifer being naked means he is to be (extra-diegetically) shamed -- it has nothing to do about whether Lucifer InUniverse feels embarrassed of his own naked body. Furthermore, Cabanel belonged to the Academic art movement, in which nudity as a symbol of divinity is an EnforcedTrope. Meanwhile, Lucifer's entire pose is meant to convey tension and being closed off, and pressed-together legs are necessary for that.
50	* HeavenAbove: Lucifer is staring angrily at the sky, a sky where God and his angels live and a place that is now forbidden to him. Moreover, the still divine angels are flying above Lucifer and the upper half of the canvas is occupied by, well, the sky. Finally, Lucifer is perched atop a solitary mountain -- mountains having typically been associated with paths to Heaven.
51	* HeavenlyBlue: The general lighting and shading of the painting are blue because it's that time of dawn when the sun hasn't raised yet (the so-called blue hour). As its name indicates, this artwork depicts Christian angels (as perceived during Neoclassicism) -- Lucifer, newly expulsed from Heaven and still retaining most of his angelic beauty, as well as a number of blue-tinted, background angels who are worshipping God.
52	* HolyBacklight: {{Zigzagged}}. Although the nascent sun's rays cast a circle of [[DownplayedTrope soft]], white light over the angels, it doesn't illuminate all of the angels. The only angel who is completely encased by it is Lucifer, who has just fallen, but even then, the light doesn't truly reach him. Instead, it's used to pool shadows over him.
53	* HotWind: The wind blowing the newly-fallen Lucifer's hair is mostly there for {{dramatic\|Wind}} effect. However, Lucifer is portrayed as a very attractive young man, therefore the breeze has a secondary purpose -- to make him look more appealing and sexier.
54	* InterpretativeCharacter: There's a plethora of ways to interpret {{Satan}}, from monstrous to human-like. For Christian creators, the only requisite is that you depict him as ultimately evil and someone who rejects God. It's common to allude to his former angel backstory but not mandatory. Cabanel keeps the three aforementioned elements but is liberal in about everything else. For one, it draws a lot from Greek {{Tragedy}}, being a TragicHero whose {{Fatal Flaw}}s (ambition and hubris) land him in the worst situation possible, aka being cast from Heaven, so he can only weep in the end. Another artistic liberty, albeit a rather common re-interpretation, is that Lucifer is an attractive WingedHumanoid.
55	* KubrickStare: It's an OlderThanRadio example of this trope and very much PlayedForDrama. Lucifer has his head tilted down while staring hatefully and mournfully toward Heaven above.
56	* LightIsGood: The clouds below the still loyal angels are soft yellow and their wings are white.
57	* LongLastLook: Lucifer is directing a longing but conflicted look at Heaven and God -- respectively, the place he's now banned from and the deity whom he loved so much yet betrayed out of {{ambition\|IsEvil}}.
58	* NudityEqualsHonesty: {{Inverted}}. Lucifer is tensely lying naked in the foreground, while the loyal-to-God angels appear fully robed in the background. Here, nudity equals shameful behavior --in this case, rejecting and questioning the Christian God-- as well as betrayal.
59	* OneEyedShot: {{Downplayed}}. Although Lucifer's angry, teary eye is far from the only element of the painting, it's its most prominent feature, to the point of most {{Shout Out}}s to it specifically reference said eye even at the cost of leaving out the characteristic pose.
60	* OrangeBlueContrast: The primary hues of the painting are orange and blue. The former is in Lucifer's ginger hair, cream-colored skin (notably orange on the torso), and red-rimmed, teary eyes; plus some small orange touches in his blackening wings. To a lesser extent, a bluish-orange is present in some of the background angel's clothes and hair. Blue, on the other hand, is present in the overall lighting and shading of the painting, background elements due to atmospherical distortion, some angel's clothes, and Lucifer's eyes and wings. The contrast is somewhat {{downplayed}} but still very noticeable.
61	* OurAngelsAreDifferent: Cabanel's variety of angels is that of [[WingedHumanoid young men with feathery, bird-like wings]], no halo, and, most often than not, reddish brown hair. If the angel is still divine, he's robed with white, light blue, or light pink clothes. If the angel has fallen, he retains his human-like shape but is naked and his wings start to darken.
62	* OurNudityIsDifferent: Here, nudity is not about sex appeal but about idealizing the painting's subject. Artistic idealism (one of the paradigms of the artistic movement Cabanel belonged to) is the abstraction of reality through two filters: the artist's perception and a standard of perfection. Nakedness exalts the human's body natural beauty while, at the same time, conferring a supernatural aura to the subject. In Christian art, nudity is a symbol of shame. Overall, it makes Lucifer's simmering feelings appear rawer and helps distinguish the fallen Lucifer from the still divine angels in the background.
63	* TheParagonAlwaysRebels: {{Deconstructed}}. The reason behind [[FallenHero Lucifer's]] deep emotional turmoil is that he was God's right hand until he rebelled (along with some other angels). Lucifer was his brightest, most loyal angel, so it pains him greatly to be now lying disgraced, defeated, and banned.
64	* PrayerPose: {{Subverted}}. Lucifer has his hands clasped but he's not holding them in front of his chasted but very skewed to his [[ASinisterClue left]]. This indicates that even if he's hurting over having betrayed God, he no longer keeps God close to his heart nor is going to obey him anymore.
65	* ProtagonistTitle: Lucifer, the subject of this painting, is a fallen angel.
66	* RaysFromHeaven: {{Inverted}}. The yet to rise sun casts crepuscular rays over Lucifer, but they do so from behind. This serves to [[DarkIsEvil pool the shadows on Lucifer's face]] and to signify that he has turned his back on God, therefore God's influence and divinity cannot reach him anymore.
67	* ReactionShot: The {{painting\|s}} is a character study about the Devil's reaction to being expelled from the Christian idea of Heaven. It includes BerserkerTears and a WallGlower pose over an anguished, hateful stare.
68	* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: Heavily {{downplayed}} but Lucifer's main hues are his red hair and blackening wings.
69	* RuleOfSymbolism:
70	** The technicolor region in Lucifer's wings indicates the richness of his negative emotions -- the hurt from God favoring humans and the rage at himself for having failed and at God for having expelled him from Heaven.
71	** It's curious how Lucifer's wings darken from the outside instead of from the inside. This means that the corruption didn't come from his divine nature, which is perfect because God created it. Instead, it comes from his jealousy toward humans and resentment against God for favoring them when he, Lucifer, has served God so loyally for so long.
72	** Lucifer is the only angel who is naked. Other than serving to distinguish him from the divine angels, it's also because of the [[SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty idealist aesthetic]] Academic painters like Cabanel favored. In other words, Lucifer is portrayed under an ideal of perfection -- perfect beauty with smooth textures and a naked body to exalt him and his raw emotions. Only Lucifer, the subject of the painting, gets this treatment; the other angels are poorly-detailed and wearing clothes.
73	** Lucifer's nudity has a double meaning. In Christian art, nakedness is a sign that the character should be shamed for their behavior or actions which, in this case, are Lucifer's utter rejection of God. This explains why the non-fallen angels are clothed.
74	* SadlyMythtaken: Artistically reinterpreting the Christian and Grecoroman canon was a [[{{Enforced}} common trend]] during the Neoclassicism. This was done by idealizing the subjects and humanizing them (i.e., {{Eldritch Abomination}}s were portrayed as humanoids). In this case, Cabanel did a reinterpretation of a reinterpretation. ''Literature/ParadiseLost'' already humanizes Lucifer by delving into his rhetoric and sentiments (even if Evil causes his gradual VillainousBreakdown). Cabanel adds an extra layer to it by presenting Lucifer as a TroubledButCute young man instead of a seven-headed serpent. It makes it easier for the viewer to relate to Lucifer and see the pain his own evil has caused him. So, in this case, it's not sad but brilliant and done from a respectful place (Cabanel himself was a Christian).
75	* {{Satan}}: The subject of this work is Lucifer, specifically, the one from UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}}.
76	* SensibleHeroesSkimpyVillains: The recently fallen Lucifer is naked (with only his crossed legs covering his crotch) whilst the angels still in Heaven are fully clothed with robes.
77	* ShoutOut:
78	** Cabanel illustrated Lucifer as he's reinterpreted in the NarrativePoem ''Literature/ParadiseLost''. Hence, the emotional turmoil that his fall causes him. Instead of, you know, just doing it ForTheEvulz.
79	** Cabanel got the idea of depicting a muscular, contorted man covering his lower face with his arm from the "Day" {{sculpture\|s}} in the ''Art/MediciChapels''.
80	* ASinisterClue: Lucifer's hands might be praying but they are positioned to his left side, signaling that he's rebelled against God and is embracing evil.
81	* SlidingScaleOfShinyVersusGritty: The painting follows the Idealistic aesthetic mostly to the letter, what with having a naked, muscly Lucifer as the subject. He sports soft, unspoiled skin despite having just kicked from {{Heaven}} after a vicious [[DivineConflict divine war]]. Moreover, the color palette has vibrant hues that are neither excessive nor clash with one another.
82	* TearsOfRemorse: Lucifer's tears are as born from [[BerserkerTears rage]] as from remorse over being responsible for having lost both his place in Heaven and God's love. He's caused his own downfall and is lamenting about it.
83	* TechnicolorMagic: Lucifer's wings show three distinct zones -- white inside, technicolor in-between, and dark edges. The multicolored intermediate region is a visual representation of whatever divine magic is demoting him from angel to demon.
84	* TheTimeOfMyths: God preferring the imperfect humans enrages Lucifer so much that he starts a war against Heaven. As the oil painting shows, he inevitably loses and is cast from the place of fluffy clouds.
85	* TragicHero: Lucifer, once God's brightest angel, lies defeated and resentful after his jealousy toward human beings and power-hungry tendencies drove him to fight (and lost) a war against Heaven.
86	* TransformationFiction: Lucifer has been kicked out of Heaven after losing a war against God. As a result, he's lost his divinity and is in the process of turning from angel to demon.
87	* TreacheryIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Lucifer's betrayal of God is the painting's theme and something that has left the former devastated and in turmoil, unable to decide whether to be furious or sad about having lost the latter's favor and love. Moreover, the loyal angels in the background are very intent on worshipping and singing to God, as if wanting to compensate for Lucifer's actions.
88	* TroubledButCute: Lucifer is painted as a handsome, muscled young man. His expression is one of humiliation, rage, and pain because he has just betrayed (and been dumped by) the God he loved so much.
89	* VillainProtagonist: The painting's subject is a newly banned from Heaven Lucifer. It's even in the title that he's now a FallenAngel who harbors nothing but shameful contempt toward the God he used to adore.
90	* VillainousBreakdown: Cabanel devoted a 1.2 x 1.9-meter oil painting solely to the subject of Lucifer suffering the emotional backlash of losing [[DivineConflict a war against his beloved God]]. Boy is not only in emotional pain, already mourning having alienated God, but is also deeply resentful about said god disregarding his opinion and sacrifices, as well as feeling shame and rage about his ordeal.
91	* WallGlower: {{Defied}}. Lucifer refuses to direct his KubrickStare toward the non-fallen angels in the background, who are worshipping God and basking in his glory. Instead, he's hatefully glowering at God himself.
92	* WingedHumanoid: By welding Grecorroman art and religion, the Renaissance art movement started the whole idea of Christian angels being winged humanoids. A trend that Neoclassicists such as Cabanel followed. Therefore, not only the angels in the background are depicted as young men with feathery wings, but also Lucifer, the titular fallen angel. The good angel's wings are white while Lucifer's are slowly darkening.
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Context Art / TheFallenAngel