Desert, temptations and wisdom · The father of hermits

Goya, Rubens, Velázquez, Carracci and Teniers follow Saint Anthony the Abbot from ecstasy to temptations, from the meeting with Paul the hermit until his death.

Antoine Abbé, also called Antoine the Great, was born in Egypt in the 3rd century and became one of the founding figures of monasticism. His life in the desert inspires exceptionally rich iconography. Temptations give painters the opportunity to represent monsters, visions and inner struggle. Teniers develops around the hermit a fantastic world populated by disturbing creatures and objects. Velazquez shows Antony meeting Paul, the first hermit, in a landscape where the raven carrying bread becomes a providential sign. Carracci shows Antony meeting Paul, the first hermit, in a landscape where the raven carrying bread becomes a providential sign. Carracci represents Christ appearing to the saint after the ordeal, while Goya focuses Ecstasy on the saint after the ordeal, while Goya focuses Ecstasy on the saint after the ordeal, while Goya focuses Ecstasy on the saint after the ordeal, while Goya focuses Ecstasy on the saint after the ordeal, while Goya focuses Ecstasy on the saint after the ordeal, while Goya focuses Ecstasy on the saint after the ordeal, while Goya focuses Ecstasy on the death of the old man ascetic with a bodily and spiritual breadth specific to the Baroque. The "Saint Antoine Abbé" selection notably compares The Ecstasy of Saint Antoine Abbé - Francisco de Goya and The Death of Saint Antoine Abbé - Peter Paul Rubens. Its reading favors the story.

Antoine Abbé transforms the desert into an interior theater: monsters, solitude and apparition make the fight of the spirit visible.