6 - David Teniers the Younger (1610 Antwerp – Brussels 1690), The Temptation of Saint Anthony.

David Teniers the Younger (1610 Antwerp – Brussels 1690), The Temptation of Saint Anthony. Oil on canvas. Approx. 84 x 114 cm. Signed lower right in the stone. We would like to thank Dr. Margret Klinge, who confirmed the attribution of this painting to David Teniers the Younger after examining the original work. She dates the painting to the period of Teniers’ stay in Brussels in the early 1670s. A written expert opinion dated October 2026 is available. Blending elements of hagiography, fantastical hauntings, and finely observed genre painting, David Teniers the Younger unfolds an entire world on a small scale in his “Temptation of Saint Anthony.” Amid overgrown ruins, the aged hermit sits poring over his books. A crucifix and a skull allude to devotion and transience, yet the world around Anthony has fallen apart: Grotesque hybrid creatures, part human and part animal, crawl across the floor, making music and harassing the saint. The uncanny blends with the comical—the demons seem less terrifying than eccentric, and at times downright comical. It is precisely this tongue-in-cheek transformation of the religious theme into a highly entertaining visual narrative that is characteristic of Teniers’ depictions of Saint Anthony. The actual temptation approaches the saint in a surprisingly elegant form. A young woman approaches from the left and hands Anthony a glass of red wine. At first glance, nothing about her appearance resembles the demonic creatures that populate the scene. On the contrary: with her light-colored, exquisite dress, the wide, shimmering skirt, the fashionably puffed sleeves, and her carefully styled hair, she appears like a lady from the high society of Teniers’ own time. Only when viewed within the context of the scene does her role become clear: beauty, wine, and worldly pleasures themselves become a temptation. Teniers thus brings the centuries-old legend of the saint directly into the everyday world of his viewers. Similar depictions of Saint Anthony by the artist also portray the temptress as a fashionably dressed young woman holding a wine glass, whose demonic nature is often revealed only through small, grotesque details. The group at her feet is rendered with particular finesse. Two young pages accompany the elegant figure and are equally carefully dressed in the fashion of the 17th century. Their presence lends the lady’s appearance a courtly air: for a moment, one might think one were witnessing a distinguished social call. Yet jostling alongside her are the strangest of creatures—long-nosed, beak-like beings with animal feet, tiny monsters, and grotesque musicians. Reality and fantasy merge without any visible boundary. Teniers relishes these contrasts with obvious delight. One discovers the painting bit by bit: the demon in the guise of an old woman, the strange animals on the floor, the musical creatures, and the small flying monsters in the semi-darkness of the wall. This theme occupied Teniers for decades and holds a special place within his extraordinarily diverse body of work. In doing so, he draws on a Dutch pictorial tradition that stretches from Hieronymus Bosch through Pieter Bruegel the Elder to Jan Brueghel. However, he translates this fantastical demonic world into his own visual language. Motifs from his peasant parlors, tavern scenes, and rural genre scenes find their way into his religious depictions; even the devils sometimes behave like the drinking, music-making, or quarreling figures in his scenes of everyday life. In Teniers’ work, the originally religious subject matter increasingly aligns with genre painting. The focus is not on horror or moral seriousness, but on the narrative appeal of the scene: subtle humor, a delight in the grotesque, and a seemingly inexhaustible enthusiasm for ever-new, imaginative details. Our painting dates from Teniers’ Brussels period in the 1670s, that is, the mature phase of an artist who had long been counted among the most successful Flemish painters of his generation. He had moved to Brussels as early as 1651, where he became court painter and curator of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm’s famous art collection. His work at court brought him into direct contact with high-profile collections and an aristocratic audience; at the same time, his genre painting became increasingly refined and began to incorporate scenes of fashionable social life. Against this backdrop, the elegant appearance of the seductress with her young companions takes on a special charm: The world of courtly appearance and the fantastical realm of the legend of Saint Anthony converge within a very confined space. It is noteworthy, however, that Teniers by no means tells the story solely through the figures. A significant part of the