Artwork
The Temptation of Saint Anthony (First Series)
The Temptation of Saint Anthony (First Series) is a print by the Impressionist artist Odilon Redon. It dates from 1888 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
Odilon Redon created a series of lithographic prints titled *The Temptation of Saint Anthony* after reading Gustave Flaubert’s 1874 novel of the same name. The portfolio, the first of three such series, interprets the book’s atmospheric tension rather than its narrative details, presenting a surreal desert landscape populated by imagined beings.
Subject & Meaning
The images depict a hermit saint in prayer amid a barren expanse, overseen by a hovering eye with bat‑like wings. Around him, ambiguous creatures crawl and loom, suggesting inner spiritual trials and the unsettling allure of temptation that the novel evokes without describing specific monsters.
Technique & Style
Redon employed lithography to mimic the dense, velvety blackness of charcoal, achieving stark tonal contrasts and a smoky, almost smudged surface. The prints rely on fluid, overlapping forms and a muted palette, producing a dreamlike, otherworldly ambience that aligns with the novel’s dark, imaginative tone.
History & Provenance
Completed in the early 1890s, the series was exhibited during Redon’s lifetime but received little appreciation, as contemporary viewers struggled to grasp its symbolic ambiguity. The works later entered public collections, where they have been reassessed as key examples of Redon’s engagement with literary sources and his exploration of the subconscious.
Context
Redon’s fascination with Flaubert’s text reflects a broader fin‑de‑siècle interest in symbolist literature and the psychological dimensions of myth. By translating literary mood into visual form, the prints anticipate later surrealist experiments that similarly prioritize atmosphere over literal illustration.
Artist & collection
Artist
Born Bertrand-Jean Redon on 20 April 1840 in Bordeaux, the artist adopted the name Odilon from his mother, Marie-Odile.
