Bosch, Hieronymus: The Temptation of St Anthony
c. 1500 ; Oil on panel, tryptych depicting the ordeals of St Anthony ; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
Bosch ‘s religious heroes were the saints who endured both physical and mental torture, yet remained steadfast. Among the saints, Bosch ‘s favourite was Saint Anthony, the topic of his triptych The Temptation of Saint Anthony ( c.1500 ; Museo National de Arte Antiga, Lisbon ) , which features physical penalty on the left wing, a Black Mass in the centre, and the cajoleries of nutrient and sex on the right wing. St. Anthony ‘s victory over such tests is mirrored by those of other anchorite saints and by the Passion of Christ, whose apprehension and carrying of the cross adorn the outside of the Lisbon reredos.
Bosch was preoccupied with subjects of torture and the wickedness of adult male, which replaced earlier, more optimistic visions of Christ and the Virgin with feelings of anxiousness, fright, and guilt. His beginnings for such unusual images were the dark corners of
the mediaeval imaginativeness, the gargoyles and monsters of cathedral ornament, and the fringy illustrations of books and popular prints.
In Bosch ‘s twenty-four hours, enticement non merely had the significance it has today, but besides meant physical/mental assault by devils. So St Anthony is non merely tempted by the pleasances of the flesh and so on, he is besides beaten up and terrorized by the devils.
The cardinal panel of this triptych illustrates the kneeling figure of St Anthony being tormented by Satans. These include a adult male with a thistle for a caput, and a fish that is half gondola. Bizarre and remarkable as such images seem to us, many would hold been familiar to Bosch ‘s coevalss because they relate to Flemish Proverbs and spiritual nomenclature. What is so extraordinary is that these fanciful animals are painted with arrant strong belief, as though they genuinely existed. He has invested each bizarre or bizarre creative activity with the same obvious pragmatism as the realistic animate being and human elements. His bloodcurdling images seem to possess an incomprehensible phantasmagoric power.
