At the opening of his recent Canberra exhibition, Michael Galovic was asked if he was thinking of doing an artwork in response to the situation in Ukraine. The thought being planted, it germinated, and led to the creation of rich and complex response, incorporating a variety of juxtaposed images based on works reaching back to the tenth century and back-grounded by Picasso’s profound depiction of the destruction of Guernica, bombed by Nazi planes in 1937. As the first place where democracy was established in Spain’s Basque region, the town of Guernica was a symbolic target. Each of the three superimposed images is particularly apposite to the situation in Ukraine: At the top of the work is an ethereal rendering of the Archangel Michael’s defeat of Satan in the form of a dragon, both as imagined in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry and as described in the Book of Revelation, 12: 7-9:

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

St. Michael is the patron saint of Kyiv, possibly since its founding (c 882) and definitely since the 11th century. The archangel is particularly valued for his leading role in the struggle against Satan. The second image is an icon of the Theotokos and Infant Jesus. In 1037, Yaroslav the Wise, the Grand Prince of Kyiv, dedicated Ukraine to Mary. She is revered and sometimes referred to as the ‘Queen of Ukraine’ with her role as protector being celebrated in the Pokrova, or Feast of the Protection. In a similar vein, on the Feast of the Annunciation this year, Pope Francis pronounced an Act of Consecration: “Mother of God and our mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine.” The third image is that of a Hellmouth, an image envisaging Hell as the gaping mouth of a huge monster. The image was first depicted in Anglo-Saxon art at the beginning of the ninth century and was also alluded to in homilies and Old English poetry, in which Satan is imagined as dragon or whale deluding, and then swallowing, the damned. Michael has used a particularly vivid image from the Winchester Psalter of the 12th century, where an angel is portrayed locking the gate of Hell on the damned, who are being devoured by demons. The completed work is phenomenal, in every sense of the word! It brings together concepts and images from different times and cultures in a new context. Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ captured the first instance in history of the saturation bombing of a civilian target – an occurrence that has become all too common in Ukraine. The horror and destruction of ‘Guernica’ is unalloyed by any sense of hope or renewal: a dead child is held by its grieving mother in an image that is Pieta-like, fragmented humans and animals are thrown about and the sun appears as an electronic flash. Michael has overlaid this bleakness with three images that change that evocation of despair. He creates a different perspective of the ongoing battle between good and evil through his addition of a strongly spiritual context. At the centre is the Theotokos and Infant Jesus. The still calmness and compassion of this image is profound, with the deftly textured background increasing and highlighting the radiance of the gold-work. The tranquillity of this image contrasts with the dynamism of the other two images: the Archangel Michael is captured in the moment of victory, with the defeated dragon falling from the sky and, in the Hellmouth, the damned are being devoured by demons as an angel locks the gates of Hell. The balance of concepts and ideas is formidable – each element is a part of history yet given new sense and relevance in this new context. The sheer amount of thought, care and effort that has gone into this project is awe-inspiring. Kerrie Magee, May 2022