The Temptation of Saint Anthony (Teniers, 1634)

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The Temptation of St. Anthony is a painting by the Flemish painter David Teniers the Younger (1610–1690). Teniers was known for his depictions of tavern scenes, fairground pictures and village landscapes. He devoted himself increasingly to genre painting with an allegorical reference. Biblical themes are only a small part of his oeuvre. He seemed particularly fascinated by the religious theme of the temptations of St. Anthony , so that he repeatedly painted, varied or completely redesigned it. Overall, David Teniers d. J. created around 100 to 200 paintings on this subject.

Image description

The first portrait created by David Teniers on the subject of the temptation of St. Anthony was created around 1634 and painted in oil on copper. The picture is 37 × 56 cm and is in the Museum Wasserburg Anholt.

Image content

In the painting, the viewer looks into the interior of a cave, in which St. Anthony stands on the left behind a boulder and in front of a small window on the side. Antonius, depicted as an old man in a monk's robe with an aureole , has his hands folded in prayer. A large book is open on the boulder in front of him. In the window opening is a skull with a chicken in an egg sitting on it, spilling feces. The saint turns to the right with a disgruntled look at a nobly dressed young woman who turns her back on the viewer and offers Antonius a glass of wine. Their claw-like feet underline their devilish parentage. Behind Antonius is a dark-clad figure with a large hat, who seems to be talking to the saint and who takes on the role of matchmaker. The figure of Antonius is surrounded by all kinds of devil and hybrid creatures, with four funny musicians in front of the rock catching the eye. As in one of Tenier's tavern scenes, four fellows are sitting here who look like farmer-men from the outside and from the clothes. The person in the middle reads from a sheet of paper and sings. The person sitting on the right is also eagerly singing along. On the left, a man is listening to them who has taken his pipe out of his mouth. To the right in front of the two singing men sits another person who is also human with an animal skull over his head and who has stuck her wind instrument into her nose to blow. Far left in the foreground sits on a stone a devilish creature in human clothing with a bird-like head and clawed feet. In her hand she holds a broom with a burning candle in it. On the right in the foreground, some diabolical beings are busy slaughtering a pig, the attribute of St. Anthony. A woman with clawed feet holds a pan ready to catch the first blood. This scene takes place in front of a small wooden hut, from the roof of which a dragon-like creature looks out. A bat flies over St. Anthony and two winged fish fight each other.

presentation

Teniers depicts in his portrait two types of seduction from the legend of Antonius, which are presented to the viewer in the form of the worldly pleasures of pipe smoking and the erotic seduction of the Virgin, which was associated with alcohol in Flanders in the 17th century. The group of tempers is not shown in the center of the picture and is not highlighted by the light falling from the window. Rather, Teniers puts the diabolical spook in the foreground with its diverse fantastic beings, the temptation itself recedes. The devil beings are characterized by their often distorted and grimace-like facial expressions and the animal feet as devilish creatures.

Similar paintings (selection)

  • David Teniers (d. J.): "The temptation of St. Anthony"

  • around 1633–1667

  • around 1640-1660

  • around 1644-1646

  • around 1645

literature

  • Ekkehard Mai , Hans Vlieghe (ed.): From Brueghel to Rubens. The golden century of Flemish painting. Exhibition catalog Cologne 1992. Locher, Cologne 1992, ISBN 3-9801801-1-5 .
  • Heinrich Trebbin: David Teniers and Sankt Antonius. Haag and Herchen, Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 3-86137-098-0 .
  • Michael Philipp (Ed.): Horror and Lust. The temptation of St. Anthony from Hieronymus Bosch to Max Beckmann. Exhibition catalog Hamburg 2008. Hirmer, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-7774-3945-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Michael Philipp (Ed.): Terror and Lust. The temptation of St. Anthony from Hieronymus Bosch to Max Beckmann. Munich 2008, p. 140.
  2. ^ Heinrich Trebbin: David Teniers and Saint Antonius. Frankfurt am Main 1994, pp. 29, 46 and 48.
  3. ↑ Ekkehard May, Hans Vlieghe (ed.): From Brueghel to Rubens. The golden century of Flemish painting. Cologne 1992, p. 551.
  4. ↑ Ekkehard May, Hans Vlieghe (ed.): From Brueghel to Rubens. The golden century of Flemish painting, exhibition catalog Cologne 1992. Cologne 1992, p. 141.
  5. ^ Heinrich Trebbin: David Teniers and Saint Antonius. Frankfurt am Main 1994, p. 48 f.