Temptations of St. Anthony

St. Anthony the Great (251–356), best known as the founder of monasticism and the notion of the monastery as an institution, was a Christian ascetic who spent his life in prayer and fasting in the desert of eastern Egypt. He had a wide reputation as a hermit and religious teacher, however, which brought him many disciples who were also attracted to an ascetic Christian life, and this led him to found two monasteries on the banks of the Nile. 

Oil paintings from the “Temptations of St. Anthony” series (2023) are based on an excerpt from the poem “Nach der Natur” by the German-born author W.G. Sebald (1988, translated by Kari Aronpuro 2022). In this work Sebald describes in detail the altar painting by Matthias Grünewald in the church at Isenheim (ca. 1512–16) and the scenes from the life of St. Anthony the Great featured in it. Tapiola interprets the verses written by the author without having actually seen the masterpiece itself. The versions produced on paper after the paintings (2024–25) represent further efforts to develop the same theme.

About the Artist

Marjatta Tapiola (b. 1951) is one of the best-known among her generation of painters in Finland. After studying at the Fine Arts Academy of Finland in 1969–74. she achieved a breakthrough with her markedly expressionist paintings that earned her the Ducat Prize of the Finnish Art Society in 1980 and the 1981 Critics’ Spurs from the Finnish Critics’ Association. Later recognitions have included a Pro Finlandia medal, a prize from the Finnish Cultural Fund in 2004 and a State Prize for the Visual Arts in 2006. She has numerous works in Finnish art collections in addition to the Ateneum and Kiasma art museums, and is also renowned as a portrait painter. 

Although her works blend quite naturally into the long tradition of painting, their roots are often to be found in literature, in the ancient myths, for example, or in the Bible or the poems of Anna Ahmatova. She does not seek to illustrate these works of literature, however, but rather uses them to address the nature of humanity and human life, in other words the feelings and experiences that are common to all of us.