According Sotheby's : A similar signed picture by Van Helmont was offered in these Rooms, 12 May 1992, lot. 96. Van Helmont must have been familiar with treatments of the same theme by his fellow countryman, David Teniers the Younger, of whom several depictions of the Temptation of Saint Anthony are known (see for example the one in Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie, inv. no. 1079; and the one in Madrid, Museo del Prado, inv. no. 1822).

From the end of the 15th Century, the Temptation of Saint Anthony had been a very popular theme among artists because of its fantastical elements. Saint Anthony, here kneeling in front of a block of stone resembling an altar on which several religious objects are placed, withstood any temptation or diabolical deceit, and therefore was considered a model for Christians to emulate.