The Temptations of Saint Antony
Le tentazioni di Sant'Antonio
Rome, Italy
National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM)
About MIBACT | National Gallery of Modern Art (GNAM), Rome
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GNAM)
1878
Domenico Morelli (1823, Naples-1901, Naples)
inv. 989
Oil on canvas
137 x 225 cm
Italy
The painting by Domenico Morelli shown at the Universal Exposition in Paris, it’s among the artist’s most complex artworks. Both realistic and symbolic elements characterise the painting, as well as a strong mystic, but at the same time erotic, tension. Inspired by La Tentation de Saint-Antoine by Gustave Flaubert from 1874, the painting shows realism in the imaginary setting influenced by oriental elements. The work was finished in 1878 and sent to the French merchant Goupil to be shown at the Universal Exposition in Paris. It was also presented at the National Exposition in Turin in 1880 and completely misunderstood by contemporaries who blamed Morelli for having resigned to make fashionable art.
A smaller version of it was painted by the artist while making a lot of preparatory drawings in which Saint Anthony is standing next to the rock wall. In the final version the Saint is seated on the ground trying to resist the temptations embodied by the two half-naked women on the left.
Copyright image: Soprintendenza alla Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea.
Marina Minozzi "The Temptations of Saint Antony" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;it;161;en
Prepared by: Marina Minozzi
Copyedited by: Anne Dowell
MWNF Working Number: IT2 019
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