Temptation of St Antony

Andriesz Both's work is noted for its humorous and outrageous quality, mixed with objectivity and harsh reality, depicting the seamier side of Italian life with broad brushstrokes. The style, known as Bambocciata, after the nickname of its originator, the Dutch painter Pieter van Laer was known in Rome as il bamboccio, which means "ugly doll" or "puppet". This was an allusion to van Laer's ungainly appearance, as he is said to have had unusually long legs, short chest and almost no neck. These Bambocciata works were informed by existing traditions of depicting peasant subjects from 16th-century Netherlandish art. They were generally small cabinet paintings or, as here, etchings.

In this instance, Both depicts a Christian saint, subjected to the torments of demons, one a weirdly hideous, almost comical figure who looks like he is wearing a mask on top of his pyjamas, the other a small, dark, figure, hard to discern but with horribly vast, gaping jaws. The Temptation of Saint Anthony/Antony is an often-repeated subject in history of art and literature, concerning the supernatural temptation reportedly faced by Saint Anthony the Great during his sojourn in the Egyptian desert. Anthony's temptation is first discussed by Athanasius of Alexandria, his contemporary, and from then on became a popular theme in Western culture.

Andries Both died tragically young, his death being strangely akin to that of the low-life figures he depicted: he drowned in a Venetian canal as he was returning from festivities, probably in an intoxicated condition. It was left to his talented brother, Jan Dirksz Both, to adapt some of Andries's designs to prints, notably The five senses, which are also in Te Papa's collection.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andries_Both

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   July 2017