Jacques Callot

As a test of faith, demons tormented St. Anthony the Great while he was secluded in the Egyptian desert. The verses on this print tell us of his steadfast faith and victory over earthly and supernatural woes:

Shapeless specters, monsters stabled in obscure hiding places, broke out of their lower world and in close marching order profaned the world and light with deadly poisons. The shapes of so many crimes transformed the hermitage into Erebus [darkness]. In the meantime what are you doing under the vault of the huge rock, holy

old man: you feel the force of so great enemies and despise them? Nothing mortal inspires you, nor do alluring Joys move your heart; neither Love breaks it nor death frightens. The mind fixed on heaven and restoring its strength from the Source, endures on earth the battles, which he derides, in the upper air.

To organize his countless figures, Callot divided the picture plane into four principal tonal values that translate into a marked recession into space. The horrific demon overhead, with its heavier, broader, and denser lines, contrasts with the delicate harbor scene in the background. The fencing demons and devilish canon in the foreground recall Callot’s works depicting combats and warriors as well as mockbattles at court, calling into question the human caprice to make or play at war.