Descriptive approaches to art analysis and interpretation

Temptation of St. Anthony

An Analysis of Teniers the Younger's Temptation of St. Anthony

David Teniers the Younger did a number of highly allegorical paintings depicting the Temptation of St. Anthony. The oil on copper dated 1647 presents the saint in a cave being visited -- as is typically shown -- by a host of demons and temptations. This paper will provide a detailed description of the painting by discussing the artist's use of light, space, texture, color and line.

Space

What is perhaps most striking about Teniers' painting is not, as one would think, St. Anthony, who kneels at his stone altar deep in prayer. It is, rather, the artist's use of space. Front and center in the spacious cave is a woman in black silk who stands opposite Anthony and holds a white kerchief in her right hand. Her position in the lower center of the portrait provides the viewer with the proper perspective: we look to her to see where we are to direct our gaze -- and her gaze is fixed on the saint. The space of the entire painting seems to revolve around her and her gaze.

Who is this woman? According to custom it is "a portrait of the painter's first wife, Anne Brueghel" (Teniers 36). This would explain the prominence she is given in the painting, and it reveals the respect the artist had for his wife. That she should be the viewer's guide tells us that the woman -- unlike the demons and peasants (who linger further off, gaping at the scene rather disrespectfully) -- the lady in black has a calmness and presence of mind about her: her demeanor is proper; she is emotionally involved; she understands the burdens and trials of the saint. She alone is unmoving while the rest of the space around her is swirling with motion.

The space of the painting is filled with activity, and all of the activity becomes a distraction or temptation for the still and prayerful saint: and yet there is a kind of humor about the entire scene, as F.T. Kugler states (Masters in Art 29). While, indeed, a variety of monstrous forms assail the hermit who has sought refuge from the world in his cave, there is something of the Flemish painter's sense of humor that allows the scene to retain a mirthful quality. It is as though the devilish temptations, so frightening and severe, are still nothing in the light of God's grace. How this grace is expressed is another story -- but it is suggested through the use of light and shadow.

Light and Color

The darkest recesses of the cave occupy the corners of the picture, while the opening of the cave gives view of a blue-white sky. The saint kneels and prays in this direction and in between the saint and heaven is, of course, a cross affixed to the stone altar. The cross apparently acts as both inspiration and intercessor, while the demons of hell all seek to distract the saint from his one object, which is union with God.

The distractions take different forms: they come in the form of peasants, who laugh and romp in their frivolity, dressed in their bright and colorful costumes and decorated as though proud of their positions. Their pomp, however, pales before the majesty of the woman in black who stands before the saint with an exquisite calmness that belies the chaos surrounding the prayerful hermit.

The white mantle of the woman in black also reflects the light of the sky which pours in from the left, illuminating the otherwise dark and drab cavern. The covered shoulders of the woman act as a springboard, which allows our eyes to move from the beard of Anthony to the cross (deflecting the intrusions of the peasant woman behind) to the shining mantle of the woman and out of the cave of temptations and clear into the heavens. A devil with wings outstretched stands ready to catch the viewer in its teeth, and if one is not careful his eyes are directed upward to the circling demons who parade in the air on their beasts, creating an uproar and ruckus. (These demons are of a unique variety as well -- like witches they reverse the order of nature and these beasts fly on fish, disrupting the senses, but in a weirdly humorous and fascinating way. Teniers' depiction of temptations achieves exactly what temptations set out to do -- distract.)

Line and Texture

The manner in which these demons distract is playful too: they disrupt, yet reinforce. They move in a circle, but the circle is hampered by the lines they effect. For example, one devil pierces another with a long shaft, while the flying fish add an aspect of horizontality to the circular motion of their flight. These circular/line contradictions evoke a devilish spirit, which is emphasized by the textures that each demon brings to their contradictory escapade: "In the air above, all is wild tumult; there are two knights who ride on fishes, and tilt at one another; one is a bird cased in an earthen mug for a coat of armor, and with a candlestick with a burning light in it stuck on his head by way of helmet; he pierces the other combatant with a long hop-pole through the neck, and this knight, who resembles a dried-up frog, seems to set up a fearful scream while he tosses his arms aloft" (Teniers 36). The textural description reveals the topsy-turvy nature of the demonic: it inverts the order of nature and reverses the hierarchy. The beasts of the sea fly in the air, while the fowl of the air wear armor made of earth. Juxtaposed with the very texture of the painting (oil on copper), these outrageous textural garbs assault both the eye and the mind. The scene is comedic and inventive, but should also serve to reinforce the seriousness with which the saint pledges his heart and mind to God -- and the instruction of the Lady should no less convince the viewer to do the same.