The Torment Of St. Anthony By Martin Schongauer

Michelangelo was an amazing artist. Working in a range of mediums from sculpting to painting, he established himself as a successful artist. When he was around 12-13 years-old he began to assist Domenico Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo studied his paintings and quickly moved towards sculpture. His first work however was a painted copy of an engraving by Martin Schongauer. Michelangelo painted the Torment of Saint Anthony in 1487-88. At a scale of 18 1/2 inches by 13 3/4 inches, he used oil and tempera to cover the wood panel. The beautiful piece of work is currently located in the Kimball Art Museum in Forth Worth, Texas. In the engraving Schongauer created it depicts a story of St. Anthony. During his life, St. Anthony went out to spread
the message he had received from God. Throughout St. Anthony’s time traveling, he would continue to have visions of demons tempting and tormenting him. These dreams did not stop St. Anthony form trusting in God’s plan, so he continued to go on throughout his journey in victory. The story of St. Anthony has been created in many different forms and paintings. The engraving Michelangelo recreates brings the story to a whole new level of interesting. Unlike the usual imagery for the story, Schongauer had the figures hovering over the earth in a swarm of conflict and aggression. Michelangelo took the same composition, but added more of a compressed layout. Compared to the engraving, Michelangelo creates the demons to reference animals. He adds a background and scenery to layer the painting. The painting is designed to obtain more depth. Only at the age of 12, Michelangelo reproduces an amazing piece of work and accomplishes a piece of work which has been studied for years. The condition of the painting has changed over time. The colors have altered because of the collection of dust and dirt over time. Because of the layer of dirt on the painting, viewers question the lack of color used in the painting by Michelangelo. But when the painting is cleaned the colors are only faded a little. The composition of the image is circular. Connections of the demon’s tales and arms construct a flow of movement. The rocks at the bottom left lead your eye up and the background gives depth to the painting. Atmospheric prospective created with the haziness of the landscape allows the eye time to breathe. Without that affect, the viewer would be trapped in the center. The background is a very peaceful landscape. A river for transportation reflects the constant traveling in St. Anthony’s life. Lush trees and a few buildings complete the setting which sets the viewer in reality as if this dream could be in reality. The gagged rocks in the foreground contrast with the peaceful background. This could be interpreted as the rough and painful experience St. Anthony is going through, but contains his fears and doubts to remain calm reflecting the background. Movement and energy is created by the active figures grabbing, pulling, tearing and screaming. The arches in the demon’s backs and heads thrown back along with the arms raised displays action. Compared to the engraving, the figures are simplified.
Looking at the original engraving, Michelangelo altered some of the dimensions and shapes of the figures and rocks. He wanted to create a more naturalistic feeling to the demons, so he added different characteristics to appear as real animals. He went to the fish market and studied the fish that were sold there. Fish scales in the top left demon emulate his studies from the market. In each of the demon’s faces there is a slight familiar features from different animals; a monkey, dragonfly head, and parts of cats. The appearances are more naturalistic and add a sense of reality in the image. Michelangelo also paints the face of St. Anthony with naturalistic features. Allowing the wrinkles and gray hair to be distinct characteristics, he manages to establish a tranquil emotion from St. Anthony. The contrast between St. Anthony and the demon’s faces relates to the feelings Anthony was encountering when he had these
visions. The painting consists of a mixture of curved and diagonal lines.
The demons tails and arms interact with each other bringing the viewer’s eye across the painting. This creates a flow of energy and movement in the painting. From the edge of the rock there is a strong line that follows the arching green demon through a part of St. Anthony’s robe towards the top of the panel. This allows a direction of left to right in the painting which then flows down to circulate the whole image. The figures are mainly covering the entire space. The background and few rocks adds depth and atmospheric prospective. The negative space allows the canvas to breathe and gives the eye time to rest. Some of the animals wings or arms hover the edge of the paining, forcing the eye to move all the way up to the bottom. Michelangelo’s brushstrokes are smooth in most of the painting. Until he paints St. Anthony’s drapery, his brushstrokes begin to increase in size. Michelangelo’s detail in the painting shows the amazing talent he has with a paint brush. He is able to represent every hair or scale on the demons as if they were truly in reality. Michelangelo constantly used the paint to push and pull, bringing lines that were first drawn as a sketch to the foreground. The sharp lines and borders are distinct making sure the outlines were
propionate. Light and shadow is very minimal in this painting. Chiaroscuro is used enough to show the demotions in St. Anthony’s drapery and in the demons bodies. Michelangelo adds a little lighting in this painting is very central. There are not many shadows, but enough to cause a dimension. The ability to capture the reoccurring visions St. Anthony had required action in the painting. Pulling the composition from the engraving, Michelangelo added more animation by adding color. The color is a full palate which relates to his future works especially the Sistine Chapel. The rich apple greens and purples bring out the difference in texture. Michelangelo was young when he recreated the Torment of St. Anthony engraving, so he did not limit himself to a smaller color palette as an older artist would do. The Torment of St. Anthony is a story that has been recreated in many different ways. Only around the age of 12-13, Michelangelo’s painting stands out among the rest. The addition of color, animalistic features, and atmospheric prospective in the background all construct more information and emotions. Michelangelo has several successful works of art, but the Torment of St. Anthony started and developed an amazing career that will continued to be studied for years to come.