The Satanic Scholar is dedicated not only to preserving the Miltonic-Romantic Lucifer’s legacy, but also to highlighting modern-day manifestations of this distinguished Devil. Arguably the most significant Romantic reevaluation of the Miltonic arch-rebel Satan was in the visual arts, as Romantic artists abandoned traditional depictions of the Devil as a horned and hoofed bestial figure—which served to humble the prideful angel within Christendom—and instead brought to life Milton’s Satan as the handsome Devil of heroic proportions described in Paradise Lost’s most vivid poetry. Romanticism’s Heaven-defiant, Hell-doomed fallen archangel was portrayed with the beauty and magnificence of a classical hero, the dignity and majesty of a Grecian god, and the pride and fortitude of Prometheus. Unfortunately, even within modern Satanism proper, the sublime Romantic Satan has been largely absent, and so The Satanic Scholar is proud to promote the following depictions of the Devil by contemporary artists, as they can truly be said to honor and continue the tradition of Romantic Satanism in the visual arts—whether or not they know they are of the Devil’s party.
