The Temptation on the Mountain
Description:
Satan and Jesus are silhouetted on the right at the edge of a cliff. A serpent hangs from a cliff on the left. Cities and rivers are revealed far below them, from the bottom of the print to about 2/3 up it. The land transitions into the ocean, which fades out to a less-defined horizon. The sun is centered in the top third of the image, illuminating the landscape; it appears to be either sunrise or sunset. Everything is rounded, as though it had been drawn by looking in a Claude mirror.
Copyright:
Copyright 2009, Department of Special Collections, Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Accession Number:
Thordarson T 2187-2192
Height (in centimeters):
11
Width (in centimeters):
8
Provenance
John Macrone (publisher), 1809-1837: Macrone writes in the “Advertisement” of the first volume of The Poetical Works of John Milton that he took up the project of organizing notes on Milton and Milton’s works together; the artists and engravers came to his aid when he announced the project.Marks Description
Along the bottom left edge: "J.M.W. Turner; R.A."Printing Context
This vignette illustrates the fourth volume of The Poetical Works of John Milton (John Macrone, 1835).Associated Texts
J.M.W. Turner's Dawn of Christianity (Flight into Egypt) (1841)Subject
This image depicts the temptation of Christ by Satan, specifically the moment where Satan offers Christ the kingdoms of the world. This vision of the temptation as extending to the open sea is eerily similar to the possibilities of conquest as commonly depicted in British and American art during the Romantic era (Hamilton 34).Theme
Biblical Illustration.Significance
Turner’s use of shadow at the outer edges of the image—in the silhouetted Satan and Christ, the dark trees, and the shadowed cliffs—centers the viewer’s focus on the land displayed before Christ by Satan, much as if the viewer himself were standing on the cliff’s edge looking down upon the light-drenched kingdoms of the world. Turner’s choice to depict water as a part of this landscape suggests the vastness of the land: the water extends into the far distance and fades with the horizon, obscured by the intense light of the sun. A circular frame is created around the image by the surrounding figures of trees, mountains, cities, and the cliffs on which Christ, Satan and the serpent stand. This framing (as though the image were drawn using a Claude mirror) creates an open space in the forefront of the image which is reminiscent of some of Turner’s port paintings. This open space creates a “stage” effect that suggests future action, an effect explained by James Hamilton in his analysis of Keelmen Heaving Coals by Moonlight. In The Temptation, such potential action could include the conquest of new lands and victories over foreign powers enabled by access to and control over the sea. While this serves to communicate the potential value of the space which Satan offers to Christ, it also communicates the possibility of power which Turner, as a marine artist, associated with bodies of water. The potentiality of the sea, as illustrated by Turner’s vignette, explains the national appeal of laying claim to such a space.Bibliography
Hamilton, James. Turner: The Late Seascapes. New Haven: Yale UP, 2003. Print.Long Title
The Poetical Works of John MiltonFeatured in Exhibit:
Engraver:
Illustrator:
Image Date:
1835
Publisher:
John Macrone
