The temptation of Christ
1854

• Ary SCHEFFER

Towards the end of his career, Ary Scheffer achieved great success with paintings based on Christian themes. Many of these works were life-size, and he also made a number of smaller painted copies, of which The temptation of Christ is one such example. Strangely, Scheffer stopped work on the life-size The temptation of Christ, in order to make a number of the reduced versions.

Scheffer is a difficult artist to categorise, as his style varied greatly during his career. Soon after moving from his native Holland to Paris, around 1811, he worked in a neo-classical manner, then abandoned that style when briefly influenced by the Romantic Movement. His later works are more Symbolist in nature. At this time, he was inspired by the clarity of composition, and the direct approach to narrative of Italian painting before 1500. Consequently, the characters he paints impart emotion purely through easily recognisable expressions or gestures. Scheffer’s work has been criticised as being overly sentimental, but his emotionally charged images struck a chord with the public, and he was one of the most popular artists of his day.

[1] See Agnew’s Picture Stockbook 1874–79, NGA27/1/1/5, pp. 20-21, Thomas Agnew & Sons archive, National Gallery Research Centre, London, accessed https://cld.bz/hPd11Tu

[2] See n1 above, p. 294-95

[3] See Agnew’s Picture Stockbook 1879–85, NGA27/1/1/6, pp. 218-19, Thomas Agnew & Sons archive, National Gallery Research Centre, London, accessed https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/research/research-centre/agnews-stock-books/reference-nga27116-1879-85. Annotation reads 1882, however this appears to be a mistake.