Temptation of Christ
Peter Paul Rubens·1751
Historical Context
The Temptation of Christ attributed to Rubens and dated 1751 again falls well after Rubens's lifetime, and represents a painting in the Rubenesque tradition. The Temptation of Christ — Satan offering Christ dominion over all the kingdoms of the world in the wilderness — was an unusual subject for large-scale devotional painting, more commonly treated in prints and cabinet paintings than altarpieces. Its dramatic confrontation between the figure of Christ and Satan's spectacular offer of worldly power had been treated by Ary Scheffer and others in the subsequent Romantic tradition.
Technical Analysis
The subject requires a dramatic confrontation between two contrasting figures — Christ's spiritual austerity against Satan's tempting grandeur. In the Rubenesque mode, both figures would be powerfully modeled, with Christ's calm dignity and Satan's theatrical persuasiveness contrasted through expression and gesture.
