San Michele arcangelo caccia Lucifero,1545 ca - Loreto
St. Michael the Archangel expels Lucifer, 1545
Museo Pontificio Santa Casa, Loreto

The theme of freewill occupies the mind of the artist who grants St. Michael and Lucifer the task of explaining the dialectic between Good and Evil. Lotto represents Satan inspired by the biblical tradition that makes Lucifer the highest fallen angel and represents him in his beauty, not yet fully transformed into an angel of darkness, almost pleading to Michael who seems to want to assist him with the outstretched hand, instead of hitting him with the stick. The two angelic figures are twins and mirrors. The movement of the fall of one, matches in reverse, the ascension of the other, in suggestive chromatic symphony.