Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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The Temptation of St. Anthony (c. 1495-1515) is a famous triptych painting by Hieronymus Bosch depicting Saint Anthony’s mental and spiritual torment. One copy is located at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.Another hangs in the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, in Lisbon. A copy by a follower of Bosch can be found in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, and another version in the Prado Museum in Madrid. A fourth copy of what once was believed to be the original, now labeled by University of Pennsylvania art historian, Larry Silver, as a 16th century copy, is owned by the Barnes Foundation, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Subject

Symbolism tells the story of Anthony's mental and spiritual torments throughout. On the right panel, Anthony attempts to look at the viewer, but his gaze becomes fixed on a table surrounded with curious creatures partaking in sin. The center panel, though, exemplifies Bosch's attraction to the saintly ability of refusing temptation. Anthony kneels at an altar with his hand in the gesture of blessing, yet pointing at a miniature Christ, and views back to the viewer. The Devil-Queen, other various temptations, and physical abuse are no match for his devotion, Bosch's most optimistic subject.

See also

• Gryllus detail from Bosch's Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony [1]
• Anthony the Great
• The Temptation of St Anthony (Bosch painting)