Temptation of St. Anthony

This spectacular image depicts Saint Anthony, a 4th-century Coptic hermit, beset by a fiercely agitated band of monstrous demons. A pioneer in the art of engraving, Martin Schongauer employs a wide range of inventive burin marks—incised on the plate with the engraver’s tool—to animate the composition and articulate the bizarre creatures’ combination of scales, spines, fur, feathers, talons, and teeth. By focusing on the isolated central action described in 4th-century theologian Athanasius’s account of the saint, Schongauer’s image functions as an icon. The image transcends the details of its origin story to represent a more commonly shared human experience—that of being overwhelmed by troubles of any and every sort.