Natalia Gonchorova played a vital role in the development of contemporary book illustration in Russia, with her first published work used as the cover for the 1910 Knave of Diamonds exhibition catalogue. In the portfolio Images of War, she uses the images of popular heroes from Russian history and religious icons to create a powerful, patriotic sentiment to her work. This print depicts the Archangel Michael, who leads god’s armies against the forces of Satan in the Book of Revelation. Goncharova is drawing a parallel here between the conflict of the First World War and the war in heaven, with the Russian forces on the side of the angels.