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Ancient Source Text Link

"The Temptation of St. Anthony" painting by Joos van Craesbeeck is an incredibly complex piece. I consulted Athanasius' "Life of St. Anthony" for the ancient text. Craesbeeck has kept the main story of St. Anthony but has certainly added his own embellishments. It is obvious that he has been influenced by Bosch and paints in a strange style with hybrid creatures and dozens of small figures like Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. It also has similar themes of good vs evil, sin, and temptation. The painting is quite apparent of the Northern Renaissance style with dark shades and new intriguing themes. Craesbeeck's painting draws the viewer in with the unnatural. These creatures are all incantations and forms of the devil and he emphasizes the temptation that St. Anthony felt. Scholars feel this painting is quite meta; as the viewer you are instantly interested in these strange animals and by studying the painting, in a way, are giving into the devil's temptations. Craesbeeck has some parts of his painting accurate. The woman leaning over the St. Anthony figure under the tree is known to be the devil, and there are mentions of all the different beasts that came to torment Anthony just like the animals in this painting. The giant head is the most strange and still scholars today don't have a definitive answer. There of course is no mention of a giant head in the ancient texts, so we believe that this is representing Anthony's mind and thoughts. With many different religious groups in the Netherlands at the time, Craesbeeck was making a statement about the danger of straying from Catholicism.

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“He ate once a day, after sunset, sometimes once in two days, and often even in four. His food was bread and salt, his drink, water only. Of flesh and wine it is superfluous even to speak, since no such thing was found with the other earnest men.”The passage above shows how limited St. Anthony's food supply was. Food (and food other than bread and salt) was probably constant in St. Anthony's mind, only eating every few days. The painting shows a cracked egg with animals spilling out. These crab, fish, snails, and other creatures are meant to be little devils. Although not explicitly stated in the ancient text, Craesbeeck painted these food devils to emphasize what St. Anthony has given up.

On the left side of the painting here, you can see boatloads of devils coming to taunt St. Anthony. Nowhere in the ancient text does it speak about a hoard of devils crossing the ocean for Anthony but I think Craesbeeck has added this to emphasize how powerful the devil is. St Anthony escaped into the peaceful desert in order to practice his religion, and the devils coming to him by any means necessary shows how devoted they are to tempting him.

“But changes of form for evil are easy for the devil, so in the night they made such a din that the whole of that place seemed to be shaken by an earthquake, and the demons as if breaking the four walls of the dwelling seemed to enter through them, coming in the likeness of beasts and creeping things. And the place was on a sudden filled with the forms of lions, bears, leopards, bulls, serpents, wasps, scorpions, and wolves, and each of them was moving according to his nature.”The passage mentions devils in the form of all different types of beasts. It is pretty self explanatory that this painting is full of all sorts of animals and hybrid forms of animals. You can tell that they are the devil with their horns, claws, and red eyes. Craesbeeck emphasizes the variety and skill of the devil to be able to change into any creature with ease.

“...the demons make their seeming onslaughts against those who are cowardly. Sign yourselves therefore with the cross , and depart boldly, and let these make sport for themselves.' So they departed fortified with the sign of the Cross.”This passage talks of the visits by St. Anthony's aquaintances. They came to St. Anthony with fear of demons and St. Anthony advised them to make their religion known by wearing a cross. The picture of Jesus on the cross hanging on the tree by St. Anthony shows that he has marked himself as he was advising others. Since you can't paint a conversation, Craesbeeck chose to show Anthony's religious devotion by taking his own advice.

“Antony, as though God had put him in mind of the Saints, [...] went out immediately from the church, and gave the possessions of his forefathers to the villagers — they were three hundred acres , productive and very fair — that they should be no more a clog upon himself and his sister. And all the rest that was movable he sold, and having got together much money he gave it to the poor"Of course the biggest object in this painting is the giant head. Some scholars argue it is a portrait of Craesbeeck himself but some say it represents the young St. Anthony. As the text states, he had to give up everything he owned, leave his family, sell his land, etc. Scholars think that the people inside the head represent what St. Anthony's life could've been. A painter, a farmer, eyeglasses to represent a life of academic learning...these are all things his younger self gave up. The devils escaping and entering the mouth area shows what could happen if he gave into temptation. Craesbeeck has interpreted this to emphasize St. Anthony's devotion, and from such a young age too. Anthony's sacrifice is always in his mind, wrestling with the coupling idea of sin.

“...one night [the devil] even took upon him the shape of a woman and imitated all her acts simply to beguile Antony. But he, his mind filled with Christ and the nobility inspired by Him, and considering the spirituality of the soul, quenched the coal of the other's deceit.”In this side of the painting you can see St. Anthony in his robes clutching his scriptures, being tempted by a woman leaning over him in a very provocative manner. This woman is the devil, noted by her claw feet. She is masquerading and represents lust, a sin which St. Anthony has not given into. He looks at her warily and tries not to engage, focusing on the scripture books in his lap. This is accurate as it matches the story told in the text.

Key

Green pin: accurate to the ancient textYellow pin: somewhat accurateRed pin: inaccurate