THE TEMPTATION OF SAINT ANTHONY. OIL ON CANVAS. 17TH CENTURY, AFTER DAVID TENIERS II.

Temptations of Saint Anthony Abbot. Oil on canvas. 17th century, following the model of David Teniers II (Antwerp, 1610-Brussels, 1690).
Oil on canvas showing a figurative scene located inside a cave. Towards the right, you can see a standing, supported cross; to the left, a hut; and in the center of the painting an older, bearded man appears leaning on a table on which there is a ceramic jug and a skull, with an open book at the foot of it. The man looks towards a woman, who points to something outside, and appears accompanied by a large frog and a series of ghostly beings or monsters dressed in brightly colored cloths and clothing.
Saint Anthony the Abbot or Anthony the Great (251-356) was a Christian monk, considered the founder of the hermitage movement. He was tempted on numerous occasions by the devil while he was in the desert, making this a frequently represented theme in art (as can be seen in this oil painting). He is represented with a black habit because the Order of the Knights of the Hospital of San Antonio (Hospitalarios) was placed under his patronage, being the color of the habits of the members of this order (the tau or Egyptian cross was also the symbol chosen by they).
David Teniers II or The Younger was a prominent Flemish painter and printmaker, son of David Teniers The Elder or I and father of David Teniers III, highly appreciated at the time for his scenes of villagers and common people, his paintings of monkey painters, etc. . He dealt with the theme of the Temptations of Saint Anthony on numerous occasions: Prado Museum in Madrid, National Museum of Western Art (Tokyo, Japan), Wallraf–Richartz Museum (Cologne, Germany), etc. In the case of the present work, it is necessary to mention and compare it both with an oil painting kept in a private Parisian collection and with another sold at Christie's in 2018, which was in a Belgian collection and has been dated between 1630. and 1680 and is signed. Likewise, it is necessary to indicate that there are known engravings with this theme made from works by the painter (work from the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, United States of America, according to Frans van der Wyngaerde and dated in the 17th century; at UCLA in California , United States of America, also by Frans van der Wyngaerde and from the 17th century)."


· Size: 52x4x47,5 cms. int: 42x35.5 cms.