Le tentazioni di sant’Antonio

Primi incisori, circa 1470/1475

Printed with fine black lines, crosshatching, and flicks of stippling, a bearded man wearing a long robe is being held up in the sky by nine nightmarish, extremely imaginative creatures in this vertical print. The man is balding and wrinkles line his high forehead. His body faces us, and his arms are pulled down by his sides. He looks down and off to our right with hooded eyes under a furrowed brow. A book hangs from a belt wrapped around his waist, and drapery flutters behind his right arm, to our left. The critters pull on his clothing, arms, legs, and hair. Three raise clubs, ready to strike. Each creature is unique, and they are made of intricate blends of feathers and fur, spikes and scales, snotus and beaks, blunt and sharp teeth, horns, wings, whiskers, flicking tongues, and fins. A bit of a rocky cliff edges into the lower right corner, and the top half of the sky has a loose pattern of horizontal dashes. The artist signed the lower center with his initials, “M + S.”
Artista
Primi incisori
Datazione
circa 1470/1475
Tipologia
Stampa
Tecnica
Incisione a bulino su carta vergata
Dimensioni
sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 31,5 × 23,2 cm
Collezione
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Licenza
Pubblico dominio, CC0

Descrizione dell’immagine

Printed with fine black lines, crosshatching, and flicks of stippling, a bearded man wearing a long robe is being held up in the sky by nine nightmarish, extremely imaginative creatures in this vertical print. The man is balding and wrinkles line his high forehead. His body faces us, and his arms are pulled down by his sides. He looks down and off to our right with hooded eyes under a furrowed brow. A book hangs from a belt wrapped around his waist, and drapery flutters behind his right arm, to our left. The critters pull on his clothing, arms, legs, and hair. Three raise clubs, ready to strike. Each creature is unique, and they are made of intricate blends of feathers and fur, spikes and scales, snotus and beaks, blunt and sharp teeth, horns, wings, whiskers, flicking tongues, and fins. A bit of a rocky cliff edges into the lower right corner, and the top half of the sky has a loose pattern of horizontal dashes. The artist signed the lower center with his initials, “M + S.”

Primi incisori