VISUAL THEOLOGY

Artist from the south of Italy,  Italian school, 17th Century, Jesus tempted by the demon and served by angels, Oil on canvas (256 x 336 cm) ■ Created around the phrase from the gospel of Matthew: “And angels came to him and served him”, this painting shows episodes from the temptation of Christ, when after his baptism he is led by the Holy Spirit into the desert, where he remains for forty days.  As in the other canvases in this series, the artist opts for a narration broken down into several scenes within the same pictorial space.  Though the principal subject of the painting remains the banquet offered by the angels to Christ, the scenes of temptation—which he will resist—are represented in the background, within an abundant and mountainous landscape full of vivid colours, with a flowery motif blending into the foliage ■