A pastel and chalk drawing of Saint Hilarion seated and covering his eyes as a glowing, nude light-skinned woman disrobes before him and two other women pull at his arms.
A pastel and chalk drawing of Saint Hilarion seated and covering his eyes as a glowing, nude light-skinned woman disrobes before him and two other women pull at his arms.
Previous image 1 2 / 2 Next image

Jean-François Millet

The Temptation of Saint Anthony (?)

Maker

Jean-François Millet (French, 1814-1875)

Title

The Temptation of Saint Anthony (?)

Year

ca. 1864-1865

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

pastel, black chalk

Supports

Dimensions

35.6 x 41.9 cm (14 x 16 1/2 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Stamped with the sale mark "J. F. M." (close to Lugt 1460 but unlike any of the marks described)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke

Object Number

30.065

Type

Publications

Exhibition History

Drawing Closer
Four Hundred Years of Drawing from the RISD Museum
Mar 12, 2022 – Sep 04, 2022

Label copy

A hermit saint, probably Anthony, shields his eyes from a supernatural vision of a nude woman. She tempts him with the desires of the flesh, radiating a warm light that disrupts the shadows of his cave, adorned by a makeshift cross. Working on a rough brown paper, Jean-François Millet applied lines and pastel colors in their pure form, sometimes overlaying different hues but rarely blending them. The midtone of the paper heightens the intensity of his bright pink, deep violet, and white, while energetic black chalk marks pulse around the figures, adding a sense of drama.

Master Drawing from the Museum and a Private Collection
Jun 19, 1946 – Oct 27, 1946

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Jean-François Millet (French, 1814-1875)
The Temptation of Saint Anthony (?), ca. 1864-1865
Black and white chalk and pastel on brown wove paper
35.6 x 41.9 cm (14 x 16 1/2 inches)
Gift of Mrs. Gustav Radeke 30.065

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.