What Does the Devil Look Like?
The Temptation of Christ in Art
What does the Devil look like? The answer is probably “more like us than we want to believe.”
We like the idea that we can recognize the Devil. We create a visual vocabulary so that we know the devil when we see him (or her). Isaac Louis in the 1600s shows a female devil tempting Christ.
There are centuries of art depicting the devil that engages Christ in the desert with horns, wings (the fallen angel) and a tail. The devil is wicked; anyone can tell just by looking.
The art above the headline shows the three scenes of temptation as depicted in St. Mark’s Basilica. It is straightforward in telling the three encounters with the Devil.
Most religious art becomes sparser in detail in the modern era as is evident in last month’s religious art post about the Transfiguration. Nevertheless, here are two very complex and contemporary depictions that are fascinating in detail. The triptych at the end of this post was found on the web about five years ago. I believe it was by an Episcopalian artist. Details could not be found now.
The second is by James B. Janknegt, a contemporary religious artist from Texas. The complexity of this depiction is fascinating. Study it. It was painted in 1990.
The devil is not as easily recognized and the desert is the world we know so well.
What does your desert look like?
How would you draw or paint the Devil?