YMMV / The Fallen Angel

• Critical Dissonance: When Cabanel presented this painting to the judges of the Salon of Paris, he was harshly judged (and rejected) for not following the very Strictly Formula that Academicism mandated. The Fallen Angel was called sloppy, of uneven composition, and subpar proportions. Additionally, the emotions simmering on Lucifer's countenance were deemed more appropriate for a Romantic piece than for an idealized (dispassionate) rendition of reality. It didn't get better after Academicism died out — modernist art critics accused this and the rest of Cabanel's paintings of being the contrary: too apathetic, idealized, and just not free as art ought to be. Meanwhile, the public has adored this artwork since the first time it was exhibited. Come the later half of the XXth century and creators (not all of them art-savvy) from all walks of life have referenced Cabanel's Lucifer on Satanic Archetypes and characters pulling a Face–Heel Turn. Or just angsty characters, really.

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