oil, canvas
Dimensions: 143 x 202 cm
Signed l.d.: Jan Styka | Paris 1906.
Provenance:
The initial Z. on the back of the canvas refers to the name of Jan Styka's daughter Zofia, who probably owned the painting. Sophia, born in Lviv, was one of the two daughters of Jan Styka and his second wife Lucyna Olgiati.
The painting exhibited and reproduced:
- Salon de 1907, 125 Exposition. Explication des ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, architecture, gravure et lithographie des artistes vivants, exposés au Grand Palais des Champs Élysées le 1 Mai, Paris 1907, p. 134, no. 1483 (Tentation);
- [cat.] Société des artistes français, Catalogue illustré du Salon de 1907, Peinture e sculpture, Paris 1907, cat. no. 1483;
- G., Polish Artists in the Paris Salons, "World," 1907, II, no. 30, p. 4, il. (Temptation);
- Salon de 1907 postcard, Paris (?) 1907-1909;
- [cat.] Exhibition of works by Jan, Tadeusz and Adam Styka, Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, Warsaw 1926, p. nlb., cat. no. 26, il. (Temptations);
- [cat.] Group exhibition of the late Jan Styka and sons Adam and Tadeusz and R. Radwański, Municipal Art Gallery in Lodz from 14 March to 14 April 1926, p. 6, no. 25 (Temptations);
- Report of the Committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts for 1926, Warsaw 1927, p. nlb. (Temptations);
- P. Sarzyński, Guide to the Market of Painting, Iskry Publishing House, Warsaw 1999, il. s. 235.
The presented Temptations were first exhibited and decorated during the Paris Salon of 1907. A commemorative postcard with a black-and-white reproduction of the painting was also issued. The Polish public did not have the opportunity to see the canvas until 1926, during exhibitions by Jan, Tadeusz and Adam Styka organized in Warsaw and Lodz.
According to the Golden Legend of James de Voragine: Anthony, at the age of 20, once heard these words read in church: If you want to be perfect, go, sell everything you own and give to the poor. Then he sold all his possessions, gave the money to the poor and began a life of hermitism. He endured countless temptations from Satan. Once, when, by the power of God, he overcame the temptation of promiscuity, the devil appeared to him in the form of a black boy, who, having fallen before him, confessed that he had been overcome by him.
Saint Anthony, over the course of his long life, was subjected to numerous trials and temptations. In iconography, however, temptations of an erotic nature were most often depicted. St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria and a disciple of St. Anthony, reported that impure thoughts are the first challenge faced by monks. Even if, through fervent prayers, fasting and faith in the Lord, they manage to dismiss the threat, the demons do not give up and make further attempts. They induce maya and take on all sorts of forms. In art, especially at the end of the 19th century, they are most often women - seductresses. Jan Styka, probably under the influence of Gustav Flaubert and his Temptation of Saint Anthony, also decided to depict the saint's struggle with carnal temptations. The naked, alluring women grace Anthony, who closes his eyes and turns his head away from them. A couple can be seen in the background, entwined in a passionate kiss. Such sensations can also be experienced by Anthony, if only he succumbs to desire. With determination, the saint clutches a rosary in his high raised hand to ward off the devil's temptations with prayer. Behind his back, the figure of the Guardian Angel delicately peers out, shielding him with widely spread wings.
Temptations is an exceptional example of religious painting, which occupied a special place in Jan Styka's work.
