Updated 10 April 2025
On Display Permanent collection
On Display
The Temptation of St. Anthony
| Materials and Techniques | oil on canvas |
|---|---|
| Size（cm） | 63.5 x 83.5 |
| Inscriptions | Signed lower right: Fantin |
| Credit Line | Matsukata Collection |
| Standard ref. | M460 |
| Category | Paintings |
| Collection Number | P.1959-0099 |
As opposed to his somber hued portraits, Fantin-Latour's conceptual works are filled with rich colors and movement-filled brush work. St. Anthony was an Egyptian monk. During his period of ascetic practice in the Theban desert, the saint was tormented by seductive witches and his endurance through these trials is legendary. Here these evil spirits appear as dancing beautiful women that entwine themselves around the saint. The saint turns his eyes towards heaven and appeals to God for salvation. (Source: The Digital Gallery. 1999-2006)
Provenance
Purchased by Kojiro Matsukata, Kobe through Léonce Bénédite, ca. June 1920 (Fr. 7,500) [see letter from Léonce Bénédite to Suzuki & Co., dated 4 June 1920, in the Bibliothèque centrale des musées nationaux, Paris (copy in NMWA curatorial file)]; sequestered by French government, 1944; vested in French government under San Francisco Peace Treaty, 1952; transferred from French to Japanese government, 23 January 1959; entered into NMWA, April 1959.
Exhibition History
- 1985
- Odilon Redon: rencontres et résonances, The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, 1 October 1985 - 10 November 1985, Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art, 16 November - 15 December, Hiroshima Prefectural Museum of Art, 4 January - 26 January, 1986, cat. no. 63, col. repr.
- 1986
- , Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, 15 August 1986 - 26 September 1986
- 1997
- Expressiveness of Materials, National Museum of Art, Osaka, 17 April 1997 - 22 June 1997, cat. no. 20
- 2017
- [Traveling Exhibitions Presenting National Art Museum Collections, Fiscal 2017] Muse: Women before the Artists' Eyes: From the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Fukushima Prefectural Museum of Art, 22 April 2017 - 2 July 2017, Akita Museum of Modern Art, 15 July-18 September, cat. no. 76
Bibliography
- 1955
- La Collection Matsukata, Tokyo, Asahi- Shimbun, 1955 (Japanese), no. 8, col. repr.
- 1961
- Catalogue du Musée National d'Art Occidental, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1961 (Préface and Catalogue Général in Japanese and French), P-146.
- 1971
- Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1971 (Japanese), no. 30, repr.
- 1975
- Les cent chefs-d'œuvre du Musée National d'Art Occidental. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1975 (Japanese), no. 58, repr.
- 1978
- Masterpieces of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1978 (Japanese, preface in Japanese and English), no. 63, repr.
- 1979
- The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Catalogue of Paintings. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, 1979, no. 120, repr.
- 1985
- Odilon Redon: rencontres et résonances (exh. cat.). The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, ed. [Gifu], The Museum of Fine Arts, Gifu, 1985, pp. 69, 221, cat. no. 63, col. repr.
- 1986
- Western Painting and Modern Western Style Painting in Japan: One Sentury from Imitaition to Creation (exh. cat.). Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, ed. Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art, 1986, p. 116. cat. no. 68, repr.
- 1990
- The Old Matsukata Collection. Kobe City Museum, ed. Kobe, "Matsukata Korekushon Ten" Jikkoiinkai, 1990, cat. no. 651.
- 1992
- The French Modern Art, from The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo (exh. cat.). The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, ed. Okinawa, Urasoe Art Museum, 1992, p.23, cat. no. 13, col. repr
- 2017
- Muse: Women before the Artists' Eyes: from the Collection of the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo: Traveling Exhibitions Presenting National Art Museum Collections, Fiscal 2017 (exh. cat.). Nakada, Asuka, ed. Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2017, pp. 106, 141, cat. no. 76, col. repr.
- 2018
- The Matsukata Collection: Complete Catalogue of the European Art. Kawaguchi, Masako; Jingaoka, Megumi, eds. vol. 1: Paintings, Tokyo, The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, 2018, cat. no. 460, col. repr.