The Temptation of Christ
Artist
Dirk Vellert
(Netherlandish, 1480 - 1547)
Date1523
MediumEtching
DimensionsImage: 4 1/4 × 2 15/16 inches (10.8 × 7.44 cm)
Mat: 19 × 14 inches (48.26 × 35.56 cm)
Mat: 19 × 14 inches (48.26 × 35.56 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust
Object number32-74/10
Edition/State/ProofII//II
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionChrist taunted by devil for not turning stones into bread; landscape background.Exhibition History
Graphic
Masterworks from the Permanent Collection, The
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO,
May 23-July 25, 1993, no. 17.
This etching illustrates the first of three occasions during which Satan challenged Jesus, the Son of God, to use his divine powers. Identified by the snaking tail protruding from his elaborate garment, Satan urges Jesus to convert the stone in his hand into bread. The fallen angel's crouching stance and grasping, claw-like right hand further underscore his depraved nature. Jesus rejects Satan's challenge, expressing his disdain by pulling aside his garments.
George L. McKenna, Graphic Masterworks from the Permanent Collection, exh. cat. (Kansas City: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1996), 5-6, as The Temptation of Christ.
George L. McKenna, The Collections of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: Prints 1460-1995 (Kansas City: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1996), 38-39 (repro), as The Temptation of Christ.
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