The Torment of St. Anthony — Michelangelo

7 thoughts on “The Torment of St. Anthony — Michelangelo”

1. Can any of biblioklept’s erudite readers inform us of the iconography? What does each demon signify? Exacting mind wants to know.

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   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classification_of_demons

      Interesting if only for the illustration by Martin Schöngauer

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      1. What are the iconographic references of each demon depicted in the painting by Michelangelo? I.e., what does the fish with arms, one holding a stick, and having a snout mean? Since St. A’s trials became a matter of folklore, each trial consisted of a specific situation. If the painting depicts a trial with a given situation, each demon represents a part of the trial or trails. Old school artists used pictures to tell stories to people who couldn’t read, unlike today’s artist who use symbolism to vaguely communicate some kind of angst. Wiki should get its attributes straight. On St. Anthony’s page, the same painting is noted as by Michelangelo. Who is Martin Scho(umlaut)ngauer?

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         1. PS The painting shown by biblioklept is by Michelangelo. The copperplate engraving by Schongauer is in the British Museum. The British Museum does not illuminate the meaning of the work. Except in a kind of Liberalized Big Nanny religion- is- just- fantasy- you- know kind of way. The New Yorker was wrong, there won’t always be an England. I shudder to think what will happen with knowledge in the future. In America, it is all just relative. And whatever.

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      2. BTW. I found a great movie about a Hieronomus Bosch the Elder painting. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16ImxnBHknw For some reason the link I watched and downloaded did not have (Portuguese?) subtitles. The subtitles mess with the aesthetics of the frames. I cannot find a record of my original link, so it must have been removed. Most of the movie has little dialog, so it is no great import. Some of the mysterious depictions in his paintings are explained by the movie.

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2. Schongauer is a very notable engraver whose imagination and use of line greatly influenced Durer and other Germans of Durer’s generation. Look him up; he is worth it.

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   1. Thank you. Does any body know what his imagination was depicting when he engraved the colorful little beasties molesting the Saint? Just beasties from Disney After Dark, or representations of specific temptations? The Roman church has a catalog of demons and their names, but Wiki does not do not much more than smear the subject around. I am disappointed that the British Museum does not give a Dialectic of the engraving. They require contemporary artists to do so.

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