Esztergom (Hungary), Kereszteny Muzeum (Christian Museum nr. 55.474)
Material:
Oil on wood
Dimensions:
58 x 49
Unverfehrt catalogue:
De Vrij catalogue:
More information
A similar (or the same?) painting (70 x 47!) was auctioned by Drewaetts & Bloomsbury Auctions in London on 22 June 2011.
Credit line:
History:
The image is also printed on a Hungarian postage stamp. Saint Anthony, who retired into the desert of Egypt, is considered as the founder of eremitism. His contemporary biography remained a popular reading until the Renaissance times. This text narrates how the holy hermit was tempted by carnal pleasures. In this picture, animal-shaped human figures – or animals who behave like humans – attempt to disturb the deep prayer of the hermit, who wears the sign T (tau) of the Anthonite order. The woman of bewitching beauty embodies Luxury – that is, lust – and wears the devils’ horns... The anthropomorphic and zoomorphic creatures are familiar to us from Hieronymus Bosch’s and Pieter Bruegel’s paintings. Jan de Cock was active in the period between these two outstanding masters, probably in Antwerp. He is considered as one of the followers or imitators of Bosch. This work is probably a fragment that originally must have had a horizontal format. Its deeply glowing colours recall the style of the Flemish Renaissance, while its breezy, light-filled landscape resembles the landscapes of the Northern Netherlands. Zs.U.
