Hermitary - Gallery - Art

About the images on this page

St. Anthony the Great (251-356) is considered by historians to be the founder of eremitism in ancient Christianity. The theme of the temptation of St. Anthony is derived from the biograpy of Anthony by Athanasius of Alexandria (296-373). The biography is not historical but hagiographical, a catalog of dramatic demonic events: interventions, seductions, and fearful apparitions that Anthony regularly rebuffs.
In Renaissance and early modern painting, Anthony is attacked by demons and monsters but manages to resist onslaughts that chiefly threaten his conviction and faith, conforming to the moral values of the day. The temptation theme by modern painters is influenced by Flaubert's intentionally scandelous version of Anthony's temptations, especially Rops, Fantin-Latour, Cézanne (even Cézanne!), Dollman, and Corinth, with heavier onslaughts on the hapless figure of Anthony, flaunting more titillating sexual seduction. These artists reflect the decadent moral sentiment or psychology of their artistic eras. A few of the painters, chiefly the surrealists, manage to convey a complex interplay of old and new, secretly granting empathy to the beleagued hermit.