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Between Heaven And Hell
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (left wing)
1505-06
Oil on panel, 131,5 x 53 cm
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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The life of St Anthony is a recurring theme in
Bosch's work. Although all attributions are to a degree doubtful,
this triptych is generally accepted as one of Bosch's finest late
works. St Anthony, as described in the Lives of the Fathers
and the Golden Legends - two of the main sources for the
lives of the early churchmen and the Church, both available in
Bosch's day - was a notable example of the overriding need for all
humankind to resist the temptations of the world, to be at all times
suspicious that things may not be what they seem and to learn that
failure to recognize this may lead to damnation. This panel shows
that while at prayer St Anthony is attacked by demons, who beat him
and leave him for dead. In the central episode of the panel he is
rescued by two hermits dressed in the garments of the Antonite
Order. The fourth figure in the group, it has been convincingly
argued, is a self-portrait. At the top of the panel St Anthony has
returned to the desert in which he lives, where he is again attacked
by demons, who toss him high in the air.
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (left wing - detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (left wing - detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (left wing - detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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 Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (left wing - detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (left wing - detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (right wing)
1505-06
Oil on panel, 131,5 x 53 cm
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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While leading a life of meditation in the desert,
the Saint was pursued by one of the most powerful of all the
temptresses. In the Garden of Eden the Fall of Man began with Eve
and the awareness of sexual attraction as she and Adam became
conscious of their naked bodies. The Devil Queen appears to Anthony
naked and shielding her pubic area with a coy, self-conscious
attraction. Anthony averts his eyes, only to have them fall on a
devil's feast to which he is being beckoned. In the background the
Devil Queen's fair city stands ready to welcome him should he turn
again. The dragon fighting a human in the moat and the flames
erupting from the round tower suggest the disguised hell from which
the Devil Queen has come. The Dutch windmill, an incongruous note,
is a reminder of ergotism, an illness caused by rotten grain and
known as St Anthony's Fire, as well as an indication of the
deceptive possibilities of the mundane and ordinary.
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (right wing - detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (right wing - detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (right wing - detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (right wing - detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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Triptych of Temptation of St Anthony (right wing -
detail)
1505-06
Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon
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