BELGIAN SCHOOL (19th Century). The Temptation of St. Anthony, circa 1860s. Oil on canvas. 25-3/4 x 21-1/2 inches (65.4 x...

Description

BELGIAN SCHOOL (19th Century)
The Temptation of St. Anthony, circa 1860s
Oil on canvas
25-3/4 x 21-1/2 inches (65.4 x 54.6 cm)
Stencilled verso: Hardy Alan #1 Rue Childebert Paris

PROVENANCE:
Private collection, Austin.

This exquisitely painted Temptation of St. Anthony derives from the mid 19th-century Belgian School: the landscape, with its commanding grotto and finely delineated foliage, recalls the work of Pierre François Charles Le Roy (Belgian, 1803-33), while the subject, the figures and their dispositions ultimately point to David Teniers II (Flemish, 1610-90). Like the Baroque master Teniers, who featured hybrid creatures in his paintings of alchemists in their labs, this later Belgian artist delighted in rendering the details of St. Anthony's fantastical tempters: in the center of the composition, a statuesque violinist, wearing no more than a diaphanous skirt and Grecian sandals, lures the saint with her body and music, and three other enchantresses -- bejeweled, wreathed , and elfin-eared -- offer him the pleasures of wine; a flying dragon looms overhead, while types of lizards and satyrs - notably, on the right, a corpulent general decorated with tattoos, medals, plumed hat, and sword - emerge from the recesses of the grotto. Surrounding objects, such as an hourglass, music book, mallet, and glass jug, further invite contemplation of this remarkable work.

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