According Galerie De Jonckheere:
On view in our Geneva Gallery for the exhibition « Recent acquisitions » until 1 February 2019! . JAN VERBEECK Mechelen c. 1520 – 1569/1579 The Temptation of St. Anthony, Circa 1550-1560 Panel 75 x 106.5 cm . The main source of the hagiography of St. Anthony is taken from his 'vita' by Athanasius. This account was popularised in the 13th century by Jacques de Voragine's La Légende dorée. This theme shows the devilish temptations to which the old man is subjected, thus broaching the issue of faith and allowing the painter to illustrate the choice offered to every human being: to follow the path of good or evil. This confrontation between good and evil was depicted in one of the greatest masterpieces by Bosch, a triptych featuring the Temptation of St. Anthony, now kept in Lisbon. We find the same old procuress, at the centre of the composition, alongside St. Anthony. However, the texts don't stipulate that she is an old woman. This is an addition stemming from the bourgeois morality of the time, criticising sexual desire through an old woman. This satirical evocation stems from the classical Ovidian tradition, which continued in the Middle Ages up until the 16th century. Besides these old women, the naked temptress offers him a glass of wine. The grotesque characters swarm around the aesthete who doesn't turn his back on his faith, his eyes focalised on a small crucifix drowned in this flood of motifs. Couples, depicting men persecuted by their wives, bustle around him. The second evocation of bourgeois morality in the 16th century: the complete opposite of ideal behaviour, is shown in comical scenes. .