How is it that the first two paintings in the 10 Scariest Paintings are religious works? Because people have some pretty scary ideas about religion that’s why. Number 10 is the Adoration of the Magi, by Hieronymus Bosch, and that was more creepy and mysterious than downright scary. Number nine in the scariest paintings list is the Isenheim altarpiece by Mathias Grünewald. This one’s downright scary.
You’re looking at the “Temptation of Saint Anthony” above, the absolutely most hideous and scariest part of the painting and is actually one of several panels in the altarpiece. You’ve probably seen the front, it’s one of the more famous crucifixion scenes executed in the Renaissance era.
One thing that’s always fascinated me is how religious people tend to forget the reality of what they display in their homes and jewelry. This is a tortured man who, after having been whipped and forced marched, is executed slowly by being nailed to wood and hung in such a way that the chest cavity eventually collapses and suffocates the prisoner. It’s pretty gruesome stuff.
And gruesome is what is accomplished here by the German painter in what is his largest and most noteworthy piece. It was painted for the Monastery of Saint Anthony in Isenheim, whose monks treated people for skin disease. The people in the panels exhibit such symptoms, including the crucified Christ. Note the gory details of the signs of torture and agony, such as the myriad splinters sticking out of every visible patch of battered flesh.
When opened, the altarpiece shows four panels including a peaceful Nativity scene right next to the Resurrection. When opened yet again we see a whole new set of panels, containing the panel seen above.
Here’s where it gets interesting. This third and final layer shows two Saint Anthony scenes flanking a carved gilt-wood altarpiece. The one to the left shows the Meeting of Saint Anthony and the Hermit Paul. We see a dark, desolate bog with the saint meeting the decrepit hermit. The one on the right is just plain insanity.
Saint Anthony is mobbed by an army of cacodemons, or evil spirits. These hideous monstrosities are armed to the teeth with sticks and clubs and razor sharp fangs, screaming and wailing, while tormenting the poor old saint. Saint Anthony believed isolation is the truest form of worship, and ideas of worldly sin and debauchery are manifested in the form of demons to molest his contemplation.
He refuses temptation, though the terrifying reality of it is seen here as no vision, no hallucination. Here the demons are very much real, as they actually manage to grab onto the old man, and touch him. While the disease ridden man next to him is oblivious to the goings on, Anthony cowers in fear of the monsters.
This demon panel is truly the stuff of nightmares. With giant birds, hybrids, and other never before thought of beasts and devils, it’s no wonder the old Anthony screams in terror.
Religious paintings often seem to attempt to scare people in one way or another. Whether its visions of Judgment Day or Hell, or demons on Earth as the Temptation panel shows, they often serve as a warning that our bodily time on this planet is finite. But our soul lives forever, possibly in eternal agony, lest ye heed their harks and follow in the footsteps of God. Or so they say.
All I can say is I wouldn’t really want to be in Saint Anthony’s shoes in this painting.
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by Mandy, on February 10 2008 @ 13:49
He was mobbed by “a” army, huh?
Other than that, an excellent post as always.
by admin, on February 10 2008 @ 20:05
Mandy, that’s one of the reasons I love knowing you read this blog, you can catch these things. As always, thanks for reading!