The Temptation of St. Anthony (Dalí)

The Temptation of St. Anthony is a painting by Spanish surrealist artist, Salvador Dalí. Painted in 1946, it is a precursor to the body of Dalí's work commonly known as the "classical period" or the "Dalí Renaissance".

Dalí painted The Temptation of St. Anthony in 1946, in response to a contest held by the David L. Loew-Albert Lewin film production company for a painting of The Temptation of Saint Anthony, to be used in the film The Private Affairs of Bel Ami. This was the only art contest in which Dalí participated, and ultimately his painting was not chosen for the film.

The painting contains many surrealistic elements typical of his work. Significantly, it was the first of his pieces to exhibit his interest in the intermediates between Heaven and Earth. The painting is now at the Musée Royaux des Beaux-Arts, in Brussels, Belgium.

The Temptation of St. Anthony is painted with oil on canvas. It depicts a desert-like landscape: a low horizon line with high clouds and dark, warm tones in an azure sky. The figure of St. Anthony kneels in the bottom left corner. He holds up a cross in his right hand and with his left hand supports himself on an ambiguous form. A human skull lies by his right foot. A parade of elephants led by a horse approach St. Anthony. The elephants carry symbolic objects representing temptation: a statue of a nude woman holding her breasts, an obelisk, a building complex confining a nude, disembodied female torso, and a vertical tower. The animals have exaggerated, long, spindly legs, making them appear weightless.

Artists and authors throughout history (including Hieronymus Bosch - circa 1501-1516) have used the temptation of St. Anthony as subject matter for their art.

The title, The Temptation of St. Anthony, provides clues as to the meaning of the painting and its iconography. In this painting various temptations appear to Saint Anthony (the naked man in the painting). One of these is depicted in the form of a horse, representing strength and voluptuousness.

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