The Bible In Paintings 33: SATAN REALLY, REALLY, REALLY TEMPTS JESUS

Fine Art America ^ | c.2,200 BC - c.95 AD | by the Father, Son & Holy Spirit

[Red Badger]

I’ve often wondered just what powers do angels really have?

They may not be as powerful as we think...............

[Hebrews 11:6]

For an excellent answer, please see Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men, by Christian evangelist and astrophysicist Hugh Ross--one of his twenty books demonstrating the scientific reliability of the Bible and the Christian faith.

[Albion Wilde]

Thank you for posting also the alternate version. Whole additional context!

[Albion Wilde]

To me, the painting with the halo seems like the one that came second, because the face is so compelling that people would have wanted to isolate that portrait away from the story of the temptation.

I found this even less cropped version, which makes it more clear that Satan is offering to make Jesus a king.

And then I found a Zazzle page where a graphic designer sells stationery, greeting cards and prints copied from fine art works. I don't think he altered the original, since he included these somewhat confusing notes about two versions:

Jesus Christ 1888 by Georg Karl Franz Cornicelius,
Berlin, Germany.

Original lost or destroyed in the WWII bombing of the Berlin National Gallery.

Original was Temptation of Christ by Satan. Apparently, wrongly attributed to El Greco, Ivan Kramskoy, Rembrandt, or Karl Bryullov.

Original possibly taken by Allies after WW II, but unknown location, yet prints of it survive...

Another version of this painting was done by a contemporary of Kramskoi ... the Hanau German artist Georg Cornicelius 28 Aug 1825 - 9 Dec 1898 ... in 1888 ... instead of the halo and blended background he painted Satan tempting Christ with a crown behind Christ and called the painting Christ Tempted by Satan signed G. Cornicelius in lower left corner below the elbow.

...the original work of both these (?) was believed lost during World War II.

[Albion Wilde]

#26 by ARY SCHEFFER, 1854 This one is probably the most accurate. Lucifer was an angel before his fall and was not a horned devil as is usually depicted.....................

Excellent commentary!

[Hebrews 11:6]

All this is wonderful. It seems clear either that the devil and crown were added later or, more likely, were removed while retaining the title. I did not have the full version, only the one I posted, which had no visible connection to today's story, but did have the title.

I found it stunning, absolutely riveting, even chilling. So, I cheated.

I had sorted the images into five categories:
1. Jesus alone
2. Jesus with Satan, unspecifically
3. The three temptations
4. Jesus ejecting Satan
5. Denoument, angels ministering

So, I posted it as the lead-in to Jesus' solitary images, and I remain happy with that decision. Indeed, had I had both versions, I would have done the same, while placing the full version appropriately in category 3.

[etabeta]

Thanks, Albion, for the additional info. I am aware of the controversy (and confusion). I wonder if the originals were really lost during WW2 or are hanging in someone’s home. So much art disappeared during the war.

[Albion Wilde]

I don’t think any of us were questoning your choice. Just digging a little deeper on a powerful image.

[Albion Wilde]

I had heard a story about the Louvre, that when bombing became a possibility, the art was distributed to private citizens, and after the war, all of it was returned. While “all” seems unlikely, “most” seems possible. Perhaps France differed from Germany in this regard, since Germany was having essentially a civil war after their defeat in WWII.

[Hebrews 11:6]

I knew that, but with your expressed interest in it, I thought you might be curious about its placement.

[etabeta]

Germany was different. Hundred of thousands works of art were stolen just from Jewish homes, 100,000 still missing today. I read a couple of books on the subject, the hunt to find these pieces of art is fascinating.

[Albion Wilde]

hundred of thousands works of art were stolen just from Jewish homes, 100,000 still missing today.

It was tragic on just about every level. The topic appears frequently around here related to a certain international financier's teenage employment—confiscating valuables from his fellow Jews on behalf of the Nazis. And there are a number of recent films about the art thefts:

Woman in Gold
Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the Austrian government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.

The Art Dealer (L'Antiquaire)
A young woman is searching, today, in Paris, for the collection of paintings stolen from her Jewish family during WWII.

The Monuments Men
An unlikely World War II platoon is tasked to rescue art masterpieces from Nazi thieves and return them to their owners.

The Last Vermeer
An artist is suspected of selling a valuable painting to the Nazis, but there is more to the story than meets the eye.

The Liberators
A new documentary, “The Liberators,” is the story of a U.S. soldier who stole priceless art from a site in Germany and kept it with him in Texas until he died 35 years later. (Not the Disney film by the same name.)

Websites to Help Find Art Stolen by Nazis
The portal links researchers to archival materials consisting of descriptions of records and, in many cases, digital images of the records that relate to cultural property that was stolen, looted, seized, forcibly sold, or otherwise lost during the Nazi-era.

[Albion Wilde]

One additional thought: the art stolen from Jews was less likely to have depicted Christian themes, unless the owner was an art dealer; although certainly there were Jewish or Old Testament themes in art. Poland was probably a hot spot for Christian art.

Marc Chagall's Wikipedia page discusses the Nazi confiscations and the fate of many Jewish artists in National Socialist-dominated Europe. (It's also worth noting if you go to that link the works of art Chagall created for Christian churches.)

[etabeta]

Yes, Chagall made windows for both synagogues and churches around Europe. His goal was to spread a universal message of peace, love and tolerance using both Jewish and christian themes. The dreamlike quality, the colors, make these stunning windows absolutely fantastic. I prefer them to his paintings, I need to study him more to understand his style.
Thank you also for the links in your above post, I will check them out. I have The Monument Men.

[etabeta]

[Forgiven_Sinner]

I got some eerie feelings seeing these pictures. On my trip to the Holy Land, I’d been in the cave of Temptation, and it looked as it was depicted in #13 by Tissot.

Then we go to the temptation on the pinnacle of the temple, which is the southeast corner of the Temple Mount, overlooking the Kidron valley, and the memory came back to me looking at Tissot’s rendition in #32. The bridge to the Temple Mount is historically accurate; I’ve seen reconstructions.

I think Tissot’s Satan is the creepiest too.

[Hebrews 11:6]

As I read your comment twice extolling Tissot’s accuracy, immediately I thought how he, like you, had first-hand experience from his own sojourn there, which explains his faithfulness to the original.

Then, I reached your final paragraph, and Jeff, I’m very, very glad you chose the adjective you did in describing his portrayal of Satan, rather than adding this as yet a third accolade for authenticity—because how would you, and he, know?