The Temptation of Saint Anthony, 1919

Lying on his knees on the ground, St. Anthony in a monk’s habit is being attacked by a bellicose billy goat in a hillocky landscape. In the foreground, voluptuous female figures are lounging about, displaying their ample derrières, while a young pigeon-carrying hermaphrodite is gallantly striding out among them. The Temptation of Saint Anthony, who, as legend has it, was tormented by Satan with worldly desires and tribulations to tempt him into sin had been a frequent pictorial motif ever since the Middle Ages. By the 20th century, the subject had also expanded into literature, music, and the theater. The double-talented writer and drawing artist Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando (1877–1954) once more addresses it in this color pencil drawing. His pictorial narrative converts the moral message into an illustration with fantastic and grotesque details, emphasizing the erotic elements.

AK, 2021