SPOTLIGHT ON BRUEGEL'S TEMPTATION OF ST ANTHONY
Anthony the Great (251–356) was an Egyptian monk who spent years living in the desert as a hermit, suffering from hallucinations that had been sent by the Devil to test his faith. Artists as varied as Michelangelo and Dali have interpreted the saint’s tormented experiences.
In this drawing of the Temptation of St Anthony, the subject is rendered in a wildly imaginative manner and the hallucinations are interpreted as numerous demons in the shape of imaginary creatures composed of jugs, spheres, human and animal body parts.
The Temptation of St Anthony, Pieter Bruegel I, c. 1556, pen in brown ink on laid paper © Ashmolean Museum
Dated 1556, the drawing is one of the earliest examples of the famous South Netherlandish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525–69) making a design for a print. Bruegel is best known for his impressive landscapes and scenes with peasants.
Portrait of Pieter Bruegel, the Elder, by printmaker Hendrik Hondius I, the Elder, c. 1610, engraving on laid paper © Ashmolean Museum
During his artistic training, Bruegel had travelled to Italy but returned to Antwerp, where he initially worked for one of Europe’s leading print publishers, Hieronymus Cock (c. 1518–70) as a print designer. Bruegel was not a printmaker himself and therefore collaborated with the specialist engraver Pieter van der Heyden (c. 1530–76) to turn his fanciful design into a print.
At the beginning of his career, he was influenced by the Dutch artist Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516), whose allegorical subjects with macabre and imaginary creatures and demons were still incredibly popular at the time.
The Temptation of St Anthony clearly hearkens back to the fantastical world of Bosch. In fact, Bruegel’s name does not appear on the print at all, suggesting that Cock may have hoped to deceive buyers into believing that the print was designed by Bosch himself.
At the centre of the Temptation of St Anthony drawing, an enormous grotesque head is floating on a river, with a boat emerging from its ear. The right eye is covered in broken panes of glass, and it has a pince-nez pierced through its nose.
Detail of an enormous grotesque head
A huge fish is draped on top of the head with its tail hanging across tree branches. St Anthony, who is the patron saint to heal all kinds of infectious diseases, is often invoked for protection against the plague.
Detail of a huge fish
The same year Bruegel drew this design, there was an outbreak of plague that was first detected in Beveren, a hamlet on the opposite bank of the River Scheldt to Antwerp. Attempts were made to confine the epidemic to that side of the river, resulting in sweeping regulations throughout the city. The river that served for many as a way of life, now threatened a very painful death. It is perhaps for this reason that Bruegel set his imaginative scene in a river landscape.
Despite all these distractions, the saint, however, appears undisturbed, kneeling and praying. The woman playing a lute inside the tree trunk behind him is the manifestation of another of Anthony's temptations, as the lute can be interpreted as a sexual symbol in South Netherlandish art.
Detail of St Anthony
Also accompanying the saint is his typical attribute: the pig. The patron saint of swineherds, one legend states that St Anthony’s pig kept him attuned to the hours of the day for his prayers. The bowman climbing in the tree above, on the other hand, is a typical motif used in Bruegel’s works and might have been his personal touch amidst all the Boschian imagery
The Boschian theme was popular amongst artists of the 16th century, because it gave free reign to their creativity. For Bruegel, it allowed him to invent a whole horde of creatures which, in typical Flemish fashion, are equal parts grotesque and comical.
Perhaps more intriguing, however, are the human figures to the left of the drawing, who appear to bumble and vainly battle the apocalyptic invasion.
Detail of the people engaged in battle
Allusions to human sins and frailties abound, and it can be argued that Bruegel intended to criticise the corruption of the Catholic Church or make a broader statement concerning the foolishness of society. In a world of temptation, St Anthony serves as the shining example.
Eagle-eyed visitors may be able to notice differences in the details between the initial design drawing and the print.
The Temptation of St Anthony, Pieter van der Heyden after Pieter Bruegel I, 1556, engraving on laid paper © Ashmolean Museum. Purchased with funds provided by the ACE/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the Virtue-Tebbs Fund, 2023
For instance, the small creature in the lower right-hand corner is now accompanied by a brood of younglings, rather than a backend protuberance.
St Anthony’s resistance to earthly temptations is more keenly portrayed in the engraving, through his seeming ambivalence to an overturned bag of gold.
The appearance in the drawing of St Anthony’s crutch on a flag, projecting from the fish’s mouth, has also been changed (perhaps by the engraver, see below) into the more commonly seen Latin cross.
More differences between the original design and the final print can be seen throughout the composition, such as the monster in the cage in front of the large fish.
There are only 20 impressions of this incredibly rare Bruegel print known worldwide. Francis Douce (1757–1834), who bequeathed the Bruegel drawing to Oxford University, was particularly fascinated in the subject of The Temptation of St Anthony and it is telling that even in the early-19th century he was not able to acquire an impression of this rare print.
Excitingly, the Ashmolean recently acquired an impression with funds provided by the ACE/V&A Purchase Grant Fund and the Virtue-Tebbs Fund, allowing us to bring these two artworks together to study side by side, and to use in teaching.
The print, which is on display in the Bruegel to Rubens exhibition, is a superb, early impression of the first state, before an extra coin spilling from the money pouch was added in the lower right corner.
The original Bruegel engraving and the print are reunited in our collection and displayed in the exhibition, side by side. Can you spot the differences?
The Bruegel to Rubens: Great Flemish Drawings exhibition (open until 23 Jun 2024) is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enjoy many outstanding examples at the Ashmolean.
