Hermit and Devil

Hermit and Devil (1870) continues Spitzweg's fascination with the hermit as a figure of spiritual drama, here confronting not just solitude but temptation. The hermit-and-devil encounter is a venerable subject in Christian iconography, drawing on the hagiographic accounts of desert fathers like Anthony the Great who resisted demonic attacks during their wilderness retreats. Spitzweg treats this subject not with the terrifying grotesquerie of Bosch or Callot but with a characteristic blend of sympathy and gentle humour — the devil as a somewhat comic adversary, the hermit's resistance a matter of quiet stubbornness rather than heroic struggle. The Art Collection of the Federal Republic holds this work within its broad national collection of German painting.

The devil figure presents a comparable imaginative challenge to the dragon in Magician and Dragon: construction without direct natural observation. Spitzweg would draw on popular iconographic tradition — pointed tail, dark colouring, bat-like features — rendered in his precise small-scale manner. The tonal contrast between the hermit's pale or warm-toned figure and the devil's darker presence organises the composition.