About the Work
During his time as a hermit in the desert, Saint Anthony (according to legend AD 251–356) was reportedly beset by demons. Schongauer depicts him quietly submitting to the ordeal, encircled by diabolical hybrids of fantasy and inventively combined observations of nature. Anthony was the patron saint against ergotism, a widespread disease caused by fungus-infested grain. In Isenheim near Colmar, the Order of Saint Anthony ran a monastery and a hospital for persons suffering from this condition.