This picture had caught my eye during class. The horse looks especially demonic. At the same time, it looks majestic. The man wielding the cross, whom I would presume to be St. Anthony seems to be warding off these godlike creatures of nature. At the same time, he is warding off the woman that is riding on top of the elephant. This scene makes a lot more sense when I learned the title of the work: The Temptation of St. Anthony, which I did not know during my search (as you can imagine that made it tricky to find the picture). Then a little bit of research revealed to me that the temptation that St. Anthony faced while in the Egyptian desert is a popular theme in art. That means that St. Anthony is trying to ward off these creatures which may be pagan gods. I think it is fascinating how majestic and terrible a little bit of surrealist distortion can make these animals. This picture is a very awe-inspiring work of art.
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