Saint Anthony Abbot Tormented by Demon

This Saint Anthony Abbot Tormented by Demons at Yale from 1437 depicts the Egyptian desert hermit's legendary battles with diabolical forces that attacked him with physical violence, seductive visions, and overwhelming temptation. Anthony's temptations were a staple of medieval hagiographic narrative precisely because they dramatized the spiritual dangers facing all Christians: the demons that assaulted the saint were the same forces of sin that threatened ordinary believers, and his survival offered both warning and encouragement. Sano di Pietro renders the supernatural assault with characteristic Sienese clarity, the chaotic violence of demonic attack given formal order by the compositional discipline of the Sienese tradition.

The demonic torment is rendered with restrained fantasy, Sano di Pietro's elegant Sienese style containing the supernatural violence within a decorative framework that maintains the devotional function of the image.