id: 105001 accession number: 1923.227 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1923.227 updated: 2023-03-20 10:12:12.151000 The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1470–75. Martin Schongauer (German, c.1450–1491). Engraving; sheet: 29.9 x 22.1 cm (11 3/4 x 8 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Dudley P. Allen Fund 1923.227 title: The Temptation of St. Anthony title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1470–75 creation date earliest: 1465 creation date latest: 1480 current location: creditline: Dudley P. Allen Fund copyright: --- culture: Germany, 15th century technique: engraving department: Prints collection: PR - Engraving type: Print find spot: catalogue raisonne: Lehrs V.243.54 --- CREATORS * Martin Schongauer (German, c.1450–1491) - artist Martin Schongauer (ca. 1450-53, Colmar - 2 February 1491, Breisach) was one of the most skilled and influential graphic artists of Europe in the last quarter of the 15h century. Trained both as an engraver and as a painter, Schongauer started his apprenticeship under his father Caspar Schongauer, a goldsmith from Augsburg. In 1465, he matriculated at the University of Leipzig. After one year, he left his studies, and came back to Colmar. There, he was trained under the painter Caspar Isenmann, between 1466 and 1469. Schongauer later traveled down to the Rhine, Cologne, Burgundy, the Netherlands, and he likely visited Spain. In 1489, he became a citizen of Breisach, where he died probably of the plague in 1491. Only a few of Schongauer's paintings survive. Among these is the Madonna in the Rose Garden for the Church of Saint Martin in Colmar (1473), which betrays Schongauer's admiration for the works by the Netherlandish painter Roger Van der Weyden. The bulk of Schongauer's engravings is more conspicuous: 116 prints, none of them dated, but all marked by his monogram M+S. Characterized by exquisite cross-hatching and impeccable craftsmanship, Schongauer's engravings were widely imitated by the German printmakers Ishrael van Meckenem and Albrecht Durer, as well as by Italian artists, such as Cristoforo Robetta and Nicoletto da Modena. --- measurements: Sheet: 29.9 x 22.1 cm (11 3/4 x 8 11/16 in.) state of the work: II/II edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Miscellaneous Prints and Drawings from the Museum Collections opening date: 1924-06-23T04:00:00 Miscellaneous Prints and Drawings from the Museum Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art (June 23-October 23, 1924). title: Italian and German Prints of the 15th Century opening date: 1933-11-29T05:00:00 Italian and German Prints of the 15th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 29, 1933-January 3, 1934). title: 15th Century German and Netherlands Prints from the Museum Collection opening date: 1935-10-11T05:00:00 15th Century German and Netherlands Prints from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 11-28, 1935). title: Inaugural Exhibition of the New Print Gallery - Prints from the Museum Collection opening date: 1938-08-10T04:00:00 Inaugural Exhibition of the New Print Gallery - Prints from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-November 13, 1938). title: 15th Century German Engravings opening date: 1938-11-15T05:00:00 15th Century German Engravings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 15-December 11, 1938). title: The Silver Jubilee Exhibition opening date: 1941-06-23T04:00:00 The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941). title: Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints opening date: 1987-06-02T04:00:00 Sacred and Profane in Late Gothic Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 2-August 2, 1987). title: Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders opening date: 2019-07-07T04:00:00 Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 7-October 6, 2019). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: Prints of Saint Anthony like this one were believed to function as protective tools against ergotism (also called St. Anthony's Fire), a disease causing painful putrefaction of the limbs cased by fungus found on rye. digital description: Saint Anthony (c. AD 251–356) was an Egyptian hermit known for having established the ideal of monasticism, seclusion, and meditation in Christianity. According to the Life of Saint Anthony written by the 20th bishop of Alexandria Athanasius (c. AD 360), Anthony was assaulted by several demons and tormented by erotic visions during his retreat to the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Martin Schongauer's print marks the very moment in which a highly animated demonic attack took place in the sky. Nine whimsical monsters—composed of reptilian, mammalian, and fish- and bird-like parts—flap, blow, and grasp a stiff and indifferent Saint Anthony. With his firm discipline, the saint epitomizes the Christian's struggle to resist evil temptations. wall description: One of the most popular stories of Saint Anthony’s legend is his temptation in the desert. Here he gazes serenely at the viewer as frenzied demons grab his limbs, clothes, and hair, and pound him with sticks. Martin Schongauer depicted these imagined creatures in a remarkably convincing way. His realistic depiction of their scales and fur point to his direct observation of animals, yet he compiled these naturalistic details to produce some of the most fantastic and grotesque fabrications in the history of printmaking. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1925. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: 39 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook_80839/page/n41 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1928. page number: Reproduced: p. 47 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1928/page/n51 Mikolic, Amanda. A Field Guide to Medieval Monsters. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019. page number: Reproduced: p. 6 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.227/1923.227_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.227/1923.227_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1923.227/1923.227_full.tif