The temptation of Saint Antony. Pastel drawing by W.S.

The "temptation" or testing of St Antony by diabolical figures is generally interpreted as the hallucinations of a solitary exhausted by fasting and vigils in the Egyptian desert (Thebaid), according to L. Réau, Iconographie de l'art chrétien, Paris 1958, vol. 4, p. 101. In the present picture, the saint is depicted irreverently as a corpulent elderly monk holding a rosary, while around him monstrous beasts with big eyes stare at him and the devil in the form of a young woman with long black hair kneels beside him