Oil paint on canvas
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<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/lovis-corinth-943" aria-label="More by Lovis Corinth" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Lovis Corinth</a>
Temptation St Anthony after Gustave Flaubert
Presented by Erich Goeritz 1936
actions: postures and motions
adults
animals: mammals
arm / arms raised
Bible: Old Testament
body
crouching
elephant
female
Flaubert, Gustave, ‘The Temptation of St Anthony’
horse
kneeling
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
male
man
monkey
mysticism
nudes
people
Queen of Sheba
reclining
religion and belief
Saints
seduction
sex and relationships
skull
society
St Anthony
temptation
universal religious imagery
vision
woman
<p>As well as portraits, still lifes and landscapes, Corinth painted many mythological and religious subjects throughout his career. This work is closely based on an episode in Flaubert's book of the same title, in which St Anthony is tempted by the Queen of Sheba. She appears before him with a train of exotic attendants, including an elephant, camels and women astride piebald horses. Professional models posed for Corinth, including a wrestler for the figure of St Anthony. Corinth frequently painted several versions of his subjects, often years apart. His first version of this theme was painted in 1897 and is more conventional, depicting an aged hermit tormented by naked women.</p><p><em>Gallery label, August 2004</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
9 February 2008 – 18 May 2008
2008-05-18
9 February 2008 – 18 May 2008
2008-05-18
2008-02-09
Bucerius Kunst Forum (Hamburg, Germany)
http://www.buceriuskunstforum.de
2008-02-09
The Temptation of St. Anthony. From Hieronymus Bosch to Max Ernst
Loan-out
5 November 2016 – 31 August 2025
2025-08-31
10 November 2023 – 14 April 2024
2024-04-14
2023-11-10
LWL-Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Westfälisches (Munster, Germany)
http://landesmuseum.lwl.org
1 April 2025 – 31 August 2025
2025-08-31
2025-04-01
External
2016-11-05
Nude: art from the Tate collection
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The Temptation of St Anthony after Gustave Flaubert
support: 1353 × 2003 mm

Presented by Erich Goeritz 1936
<p>As well as <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a>, <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/still-life" title="Glossary definition for 'Still life'"><span>still lifes</span></a> and <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscapes</span></a>, Corinth painted many mythological and religious subjects throughout his career. This work is closely based on an episode in Flaubert's book of the same title, in which St Anthony is tempted by the Queen of Sheba. She appears before him with a train of exotic attendants, including an elephant, camels and women astride piebald horses. Professional models posed for Corinth, including a wrestler for the figure of St Anthony. Corinth frequently painted several versions of his subjects, often years apart. His first version of this theme was painted in 1897 and is more conventional, depicting an aged hermit tormented by naked women.</p>
Display caption
2004-08-18T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>Lovis Corinth</b><span> 1858-1925 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/corinth-the-temptation-of-st-anthony-after-gustave-flaubert-n04831" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N04831</span></a> </span><b>The Temptation of St Anthony after Gustave Flaubert</b><span> 1908 </span>
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<p><span>Inscribed 'Lovis Corinth 1908' b. towards l.</span>
<br/><span>Oil on canvas, 53 1/4 x 78 7/8 (135.5 x 200.5)</span>
<br/><span>Presented by Erich Goeritz 1936</span>
<br/><i>Prov:</i><span>
With Fritz Gurlitt, Berlin; Oscar Schmitz, Dresden; with Paul Cassirer, Berlin, 1912; Rothermundt, Dresden; D. Leder, Berlin; with or through Wolfgang Gurlitt, Berlin; Erich Goeritz, Berlin and London, 1919</span>
<br/><i>Exh:</i><span>
Berliner Secession, Berlin, April-June 1908 (39, repr.) as 'Die Versuchung des heil. Antonius nach Gustave Flaubert'; XIV. Jahrgang, v. Ausstellung, Paul Cassirer, Berlin, January-February 1912 (10); </span><i>Lovis Corinth</i><span>, Paul Cassirer in the rooms of the Secession, Berlin, January-February 1913 (122, repr.); XIII Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia, Venice, April-October 1922 (Germany 3); </span><i>Corinth-Ausstellung</i><span>, National-Galerie, Berlin, June-October 1923 (69); </span><i>Lovis Corinth</i><span>, Nationalgalerie, Berlin, January-June 1926 (142); </span><i>Lovis Corinth</i><span>, Kunstverein, Kassel, September-October 1926 (31); </span><i>Lovis Corinth: Gedächtnis-Ausstellung</i><span>, Sächischer Kunstverein, Dresden, January-March 1927 (52, repr.); </span><i>Lovis Corinth</i><span>, Kunsthalle, Basle, March-April 1936 (25); </span><i>Lovis Corinth: Gedächtnis-Ausstellung</i><span>, Stadthalle, Wolfsburg, May-June 1958 (68); </span><i>Lovis Corinth</i><span>, Tate Gallery, January-February 1959 (26); </span><i>Lovis Corinth</i><span>, Leicester Museum and Art Gallery, December 1967-January 1968 (no catalogue); </span><i>Germany in Ferment</i><span>, Dunelm House, Durham, October-November 1970 (11); Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, November-December 1970 (11); Leicester Art Gallery, December 1970 (11)</span>
<br/><i>Lit:</i><span>
Georg Biermann, </span><i>Lovis Corinth</i><span> (Bielefeld and Leipzig 1913), pp.85-8, repr. pl.89; Charlotte Berend-Corinth, </span><i>Die Gemälde von Lovis Corinth</i><span> (Munich 1958), No.351, pp.98-9, repr. p.468</span>
<br/><i>Repr:</i><span>
</span><i>Die Kunst</i><span>, XXIII, 1908, p.419; </span><i>Studio, XLIV</i><span>, 1908, p.151 </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>This picture, sometimes known simply as 'The Temptation of St Anthony', was first exhibited at the Berlin <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/secession" title="Glossary definition for 'Secession'"><span>Secession</span></a> of 1908 under the title 'The Temptation of St Anthony after Gustave Flaubert'. It is closely based on an episode in Flaubert's </span><i>La Tentation de Saint-Antoine</i><span>, in which St Anthony is tempted by the Queen of Sheba, who appears before him with a train of exotic attendants, including an elephant, camels and women astride piebald horses. Thomas Corinth (letters of 9 July and 19 August 1954) said that it was executed in Corinth's studio in the Handelstrasse, Berlin, and was painted from professional models except that the artist's wife posed for the arm and hand with rings only of the female figure in the centre (the Queen of Sheba herself). Uli Nimptsch told the compiler that the model for St Anthony was a wrestler, who later posed for him. Corinth also made an <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/etching" title="Glossary definition for 'Etching'"><span>etching</span></a> after this picture in 1919 (K. Schwarz, </span><i>Das graphische Werk von Lovis Corinth</i><span>, Berlin 1922, No.353). </span>
<br/></p>
<p><span>This was his second <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a> of 'The Temptation of St Anthony'. The earlier picture, painted in 1897, is more conventional in treatment and shows the saint as an aged hermit tormented by naked women. It now belongs to the Bayerische Staatsgemälde-Sammlungen, Munich. </span>
<br/></p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/><span>Ronald Alley, </span><i>Catalogue of the Tate Gallery's Collection of Modern Art other than Works by British Artists</i><span>, Tate Gallery and Sotheby Parke-Bernet, London 1981, pp.131-2, reproduced p.131</span>
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-15T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
actions: postures and motions adults animals: mammals arm / arms raised Bible: Old Testament body crouching elephant female Flaubert, Gustave, ‘The Temptation of St Anthony’ horse kneeling literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) male man monkey mysticism nudes people Queen of Sheba reclining religion and belief Saints seduction sex and relationships skull society St Anthony temptation universal religious imagery vision woman