St. Anthony and Death 1837

Rodolphe Bresdin made this etching titled *St. Anthony and Death* in 1857. A complex allegory, it invites us to consider the values of 19th-century French society. Bresdin’s composition is a bleak vision of the world. In this highly detailed landscape we see the saint kneeling, seemingly unfazed by the grim reapers lurking in the shadows, and the skulls scattered around. Bresdin was working in a period when the print market served a growing middle-class audience with affordable art. It was also a time when religious belief was being challenged by secular ideas. Bresdin seems to be commenting on the confrontation of faith and doubt, with a hint of social critique. Are the skeletons symbols of the dark side of modernization? Perhaps they represent the plight of those left behind by economic progress. Art historians consult a range of period sources to interpret artworks like this, from exhibition reviews to the artist’s letters. This allows us to better understand the social and intellectual context of the work.