Temptation of Christ on the Mountain
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| Duccio, The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain, 1308-1311 |
Imagine sitting on a throne in Jerusalem, commanding the armies of the world, being taxied around by angels, and worshiping Satan. But the year is 30 A.D. so your armies would not be equipped with sub-machine guns, tanks, or tactical nukes. Sure, Jesus, being the Son of God, could get chauffeured by angels, but modern Satanism had not really been popularized until bands like Black Sabbath, Danzig, or Slayer hit the shelves. But, if one wants all these modern touches of home in his vision of the Temptation of Christ, go ahead. Visualize this biblical scene occurring in Times Square for all Duccio would care; because there were no medieval castles in Jerusalem at the beginning of the first century.
Duccio painted The Temptation of Christ on the Mountain as part of the Maesta Altarpiece from 1308-1311,
a time when Europe was coming out of this, to put it in modern terms, recession
called the Dark Ages. During this time, Europeans really did not care much for
historical accuracy. Instead, they left that up to the Muslims, who were
actually ruling Jerusalem at the time and knew for a fact there were no traces
of European architecture in the Middle East. The Muslims also suspected Jesus
was not white, but possibly Aramaic. And some people of the time may also argue
that Satan does not look like a wrinkling old man with a Mohawk and oddly
placed patches of body hair, but what do I know. Unless of
course someone has actually seen the Devil and wants to describe him for us.
Please email the staff of My Kid Could Paint That if you have been a victim of
a so called “Satan Siting.” You do not have to live with this trauma alone, support
groups for that do exist.
Despite historical flaws, Duccio does demonstrate
his talents as an artist in The
Temptation of Christ. The painting has a foreground (which the first two
castles inhabit), a middle ground (where Jesus and old man Satan duke it out),
and a background (featuring Jesus’ support crew and yellow sky). Jesus and the
Devil possess a sense of duality. Jesus stands on an upward curve in the rocks,
the opposite of Satan’s downward slope. And a black castle stands just below
Satan’s left wing while a white castle can be found right under Jesus’ blue
robe. This painting embodies the connectedness of good and evil, but also proves most
Pre-Renaissance painters believed the world was Medieval Europe.
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