David Teniers, the Younger (Flemish, 1610-1690), "The Temptation of St. Anthony", oil on oval-form wood panel, monogrammed D.T. in a circle far center right, various labels in German, French and English en verso, including a reproduction of the painting in a gallery sale catalogue ca. 1900, 16-1/2" x 22". Framed. Provenance: By repute Prince Pavel Demidov, Villa San Donato, 1881, and Pierre Eugene Secretan, "Vente de Secretan" by Galerie Sedelmeyer, Paris, 1889; then Christie's, London, March 11, 1911, lot 130; Isaac Newton Fleischner Collection, Portland, Oregon. David Teniers, the Younger was a prolific artist of the Flemish Baroque period, believed to have painted nearly 2,000 paintings in his lifetime, including the small landscapes, poignantly dubbed "afternoons," which he was rumored to have executed in half a day. Teniers was admitted as a "master" into the Guild of St. Luke in Antwerp in 1632, he later presided over it in 1644, and was appointed painter and curator to the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, painting and buying artwork across Europe for his collection. His lasting legacy, aside from the numerous paintings he created, was the founding of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp in 1663. Teniers trained under his father, an artist of equal merit, and was influenced by Peter Paul Rubens, Adriaen Brouwer and his father-in-law Jan Brueghel the Elder. The latter two artists' style of genre painting, which depicted "lower class" individuals comically engaged in various vices and acts of debauchery- prostitution, drinking, smoking, card/dice playing and fighting- greatly informed Teniers' works , but instead of drawing upon tavern and village scenes to stage a parody of Dutch proverbs, like Brueghel, the Elder's famous "Topsy Turvy World" (1559), Teniers preferred biblical scenes illustrated two centuries before by Hieronymous Bosch. Two of his favorite stories, which he visited numerous times in his life, are "The Rich Man in Hell" and the "Temptation of St. Anthony." The painting offered here represents one of his five recognized prototypes of the Temptation by John Smith in his catalogue raisonne (1829-1842). While all are set in the eponymous cave of the 3rd century hermit, the arrangement and consort of demons, monsters and women the Devil sends to distract St. Anthony from his worship vary. Recurring figures, also seen here, are the temptress with her flesh and chalice, a cloaked and beaked demon, jousting amphibians, and bird and ass hybrids. This scene of the Temptation is as colorful as the history recorded in its labels en verso. There is a very old and faint handwritten inscription in German that dates the painting to the 1640s, followed by a mid-to-late 19th century label titled in French- joining them are a stamp notating "Collection W. Thom Smith" from ca. 1940, and most striking of all- a printed reproduction of the painting from a ca. 1900 English catalogue/book stating that its provenance is from the Villa San Donato sale of Prince Demidov and the Secretan sale in 1889. In 1881, a large part of the Demidov Collection housed in fourteen rooms in the Villa was auctioned with the property that also included numerous collections from Count Nicholas, Anatole and Prince Paul over a period of six weeks. Pierre Eugene Secretan, a French industrialist and major art collector, purchased many works of art at the San Donato sale in Italy, including at least three Teniers (one of which was a ΓÇ£Temptation of St. Anthony"). After the copper crash of 1889, Secretan was forced to liquidate his collection, which he sold through Galerie Sedelmeyer during the 1889 Universal Exposition in Paris. Much of the collection to be auctioned was published in an impressive catalogue, designed to attract French and American investors. The "Temptation of St. Anthony" by Teniers that was auctioned in the sale as lot 171 is not the one offered here, as it is not on copper. It is quite possible that Secretan, an avid collector of Dutch/Flemish Baroque painting, sold this "Temptation" to Sedelmeyer prior to the sale. Until the first part of the 20th century, the painting's provenance is unknown. It was published and illustrated either shortly before or after it was auctioned at Christie's, London in 1911 where it was purchased by Isaac Newton Fleischner (1859-1927) of Portland, Oregon. Fleischner, an Austrian/American businessman, was an avid art collector and partner in Mayer and Company, the largest wholesale dry goods house on the Pacific coast. From where the painting went after Fleischner is not known (Collection of W. Thomas Smith?). This Teniers' painting continues to dazzle and bedevil viewers centuries later, tempting greater inquiry. References: Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonne of the Works of the most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters.London: Smith and Son, 1829-1842; Art Prices Current, vol. 4. London: Wm Dawson and Sons Limited, 1910-1911, p. 306; Catalogue de tableaux anciens et moderne...formant celebre collection de M.E. Secretan. Paris: Galerie Sedelmeyer, 1889; Annual Report of the Portland Art Association for the Year Ending June 1, 1909. Portland: Portland Association, 1909. Catalogue of Ancient and Modern Pictures and Drawings, the Property of Mrs. Murray Guthrie, of Duart Castle, Isle of Mull, N.B., who is Giving Up Her Residence, 9 Upper Berkeley Street, W., Also Old Pictures, the Property of the Rev. H. B. George, Deceased Late of Holywell Lodge, Oxford and from Numerous Private Collections and Different Sources. London, 1911.

In overall very good condition. There is a small pen-tip size loss to the pigment on the shoulder of the figure left of center. Painting exhibits past signs of conservative restoration - a few scattered spots of inpainting along edges and re-varnishing. Given the layers of varnish, it was difficult to fully penetrate with UV light. There is some degradation to the varnish (light crazing and blooming) to the upper right area. Painting exhibits some minor surface soiling. Condition is as to be expected with age and use.