The Temptation of St Anthony
1530
unspecified
From the collection of Rijksmuseum
1530
unspecified
From the collection of Rijksmuseum
The Temptation of St Anthony is a 1530 unspecified by Unknown, a Mannerism work, held at Rijksmuseum.
You see a hermit kneeling in prayer while monsters and a half-naked woman crowd around him. Behind them, a city burns. This painting was once the middle panel of a three-part altarpiece. The monsters aren’t just scary—they’re weird, almost funny, like creatures from a bad dream. The fire in the background might be hell, or maybe just the chaos in the hermit’s mind. To see how other artists painted the same story, look up *chiaroscuro*—a technique that uses strong light and dark to make scenes feel dramatic.
