St. Anthony Beaten by Devils

Sassetta, 1423

This panel shows Saint Anthony the Abbot, a monk and hermit, surrounded by three devils who beat him with clubs. According to tradition, Anthony lived a secluded monastic life and was tempted and tormented by devils as a test of his faith, a scene that religious art depicted often. Sassetta painted it in tempera on wood, in a small, horizontal format, around the 1420s and 1430s.

The painting belongs to a triptych known as the Arte della Lana Altarpiece, commissioned by the Wool Merchants' Guild for the Carmelites of Siena, for use in the feast of Corpus Domini. The altarpiece was taken apart in 1777 and one of its panels was lost, so the ensemble survives incomplete. Anthony's panel is now held in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Siena.

What makes the scene striking is the contrast between the brutality of the attack and the calm with which the saint stands among his assailants, an image that captures the idea of faith under trial.

Painter: Sassetta
Date: 1423
Medium: tempera, panel
Dimensions: 24 × 40 cm
Museum: Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena, Siena
Genre: religious art
Depicts: walking stick, Anthony the Great, club, devil

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