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The Temptations of St. Anthony the Abbot

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo

Tiepolo painted this youthful work before being summoned to decorate the Bishop’s Palace in Udine in 1726. The fantastical landscape is a figment of his clearly very fertile imagination. The aged monk attempts to shield himself behind a huge book, warding off the temptation – in the shape of a beautiful, naked young woman – being ushered before him by a devil with bat’s wings. Tiepolo turns the Bible story into an allegory of the seasons of life, conferring an almost secular character on the scene.

Download hi-res image TITLE The Temptations of St. Anthony the Abbot
AUTHOR Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
DATE 1724 - 5
OBJECT TYPE AND MATERIAL Oil on canvas
DIMENSIONS cm 40 x 47
INVENTORY 5969
ROOM XXXV
Work on display
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