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Temptations of Saint Anthony

Maker

Jan Thomas van Kessel (artist)
1677-1741

Title

Date of Production

1600 - 1799

Medium

grey wash underdrawing, pen and brown ink, brown wash, white bodycolour on blue laid paper, laid down

Dimensions

Height: 27.4 cm
Width: 44.9 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.4519

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

The hermit Saint Anthony was subject to vivid hallucinations resulting from an ascetic life in the desert. Often he is depicted being assaulted by demons in the shape of wild animals and monsters, here shown as a monstrous chorus of horned creatures with snouts and jagged teeth. Some play instruments, while a skeletal bird acts as a music stand. When he drew the short-legged, bodyless creatures, van Kessel, a Flemish painter of allegorical and genre scenes, must have had the imagery of Hieronymous Bosch in mind.

Provenance

Count Nils Barck, Paris and Madrid (1820-1896), L.1959; from whom acquired by Comte Narcisse Adolphe Thibaudeau (1795-1856); his estate sale, Hôtel des Commissaires-priseurs, Paris, 20-25 April 1857, lot 465; C.A. Earnshaw, London; purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 5 January 1951; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, 29 March 1951 (£12); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Captured on Paper, Animals in the Prints and Drawings Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 20/06/2002-11/08/2002

Literature

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 127

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Label: Removed, now in file, printed in black ink from an auction catalogue: "103. Jan Thomas van Kessel. 1677-1741? / The Temptation of St. Anthony. / Pen and brown ink and grey wash, heightened / with white, on blue paper. 10 3/4 x 17 5/8. / Signed in full, lower R. / Collection: Comte Nils Barck.".

Inscription: Recto: within the drawing, on table at right edge, brown ink, signed: "JT. Van Kessel i." Verso (backing sheet): lower right, graphite, Colnaghi number: "A. 17944"; lower right, graphite, last word unclear: "Lay on gold after [...]".

Collector's mark: Recto: lower right corner, blindstamped: Count Nils Barck (L.1959). Verso (backing sheet): lower left edge, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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