The Synaxis of Archangel Michael and Other Bodiless Powers, also known as St. Michael’s Day, is celebrated on November 8. The feast was established in the 4th century and is celebrated by both the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

Christian theologians have devised several systems of angel hierarchy based on the Old and New Testaments. Traditionally, nine levels of angels are known. According to “Celestial Hierarchy” by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, there are nine levels of angels that can be grouped into three orders. The highest orders include seraphim, cherubim, and ophanim. The middle orders include the Dominions, Virtues, and Powers. The lowest orders include the Principalities, archangels, and angels.

In the Book of Revelation, John the Apostle described the fight between Archangel Michael and his host of angels and a dragon that pursued a woman clothed in the sun and her child,

The earliest Russian images of the Synaxis of the Archangels, dating back to the 13th–15th centuries, depicted Archangels Michael and Gabriel supporting a sphere with Emmanuel. In later images, numerous bodiless powers were added to the composition, and Archangel Michael was placed in its center.

In “Synaxis of Archangel Michael and Other Bodiless Powers” from the collection of the Andrei Rublev Museum, the traditional depiction of Emmanuel was replaced by Christ Pantocrator sitting on cherubs (which is confirmed by the inscription) and ophanim and surrounded by seraphim. The bodiless powers of the highest orders are represented as six-winged beings. The rest of the bodiless powers look like winged young men. At the bottom, in the center, Archangel Michael stands dressed in military attire, with an unsheathed sword in his right hand, emphasizing his role as the archangel, the supreme commander of the Heavenly host.

This icon was the main image of the cathedral in Bronnitsy, near Moscow, where an imperial horse breeding village was located in the early 18th century.