Temptations: The Devil's Donations vs. the Wich's Divinations

TEMPTATIONS:

The Devil’s Donations Vs. The Witch’s Divinations

Temptation, no matter what is being offered or desired, is something that humans have struggled with since we first began to walk upright. Because this is something that we’ve been able to identify with since forever, it has become a central theme in our works of fiction and in our art. The two works discussed herein-Mathias Grunewald’s The Temptation of St. Anthony and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth-are no different in this regard. Both works were created nearly a century apart but both in the same framework of the Renaissance, however, both are of a darker time. Grunewald drew inspiration for his works from the art of the Middle Ages with its religious themes, while Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a very dark play, totally at odds with the bright colors and renewed interest in the classical era expressed throughout the era that both works were created.

Mathias Grunewald (c. 1470-1528) was a German painter who created the Isenheim Altarpiece between 1512 and 1516. This work consists of different wings that fold out to reveal more of the work (Collings, 2007) (including the crucifixion of Christ), is on the display at the Unterlinden Museum at Colmar, Alsace, France, and was commissioned for the Monastery of Saint Anthony in Isenheim, near Colmar. On one of these wings is the figure of Saint Anthony of Egypt, whose temptation has been the inspiration for many works of art as well as literature. Unlike other artists of the Renaissance period, Grunewald’s paintings depict religious figures as artists of the middle ages had done, creating imagery for the Church in Rome. And while the Isenheim Altarpiece, and indeed the Temptation of Saint Anthony, was commissioned b...

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... way, Banquo is a little more alike to the celebrated Saint than Macbeth as he refused the enticements of nobility; though, Banquo did end up losing his own life by no fault of his own. In the end, both stand as works to stand the test of time. Grunewald and Shakespeare crafted works of art that speak to the human desire to be something greater than ourselves, except there are two roads one can take on their way-one leadeth to damnation, the other leads to glory.

WORKS CITED

Bacchus, Francis Joseph. “St. Paul the Hermit.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York. Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 5 Apr. 2014

Collings, Matthew. Arts: What in the World…? The Guardian. December 22, 2007.

Lizhi, Ye. “The Equivocation Theme in Macbeth/Equivocation Du Theme Dans Macbeth.” Vol.2 No.4. Canadian Research & Development Center of Sciences and Cultures. Montreal, 2006.