Martin Schongauer engraved this piece, Demons Tormenting Saint Anthony, in the 1470s. It is an illustration of the biblical meaning of temptation. Instead of portraying temptation as just inducement, the artist made it into a physical attack. The demons lifted Anthony up off the ground to torment him in mid air. Schongauer intensified the piece by having the demons in a swirling vortex of them beating, scratching, and shrieking at Saint Anthony. Anthony however stays calm. His faith made him impervious to all dangers. This piece reminds me of my friend's tattoo. I don't have a picture of it though. It is of a Geisha with three demons pulling at her. The same concept with this one to left is the same as my friend's tattoo. A lot of Japanese tattoo artists pick the art for the person. My friend's tattoo artist picked the concept which was perfect for him.
I too liked this piece. Temptation usually does feel like a battle. In today's world this could be described as someone who is trying to go on a diet and their favorite cake is sitting on a plate in front of them. The inner struggle not to give into the temptation of the cake is excruciating. There is an entire battle going on without anyone even seeing it. If that person had as much strength as Saint Anthony had faith then the cake would lose and the woman would continue on. Very cool now I can call cake an evil demon while I enjoy it.
ReplyDeletei really like this picture, i just keep on looking at it and find more intereting images within the picture.great blog!
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