The Temptation of Saint Anthony

Interesting Facts

• The book is based on the legend of Saint Anthony the Great, who lived in Egypt in the 4th century and was known for his spiritual feats and struggle with temptations.
• Flaubert worked on the book for over 30 years, starting in 1848 and completing it in 1874.
• The work is a dramatic prose poem where Saint Anthony faces various temptations presented as visions and hallucinations.
• The book was inspired by Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting «The Temptation of Saint Anthony», which Flaubert saw in Genoa.
• Flaubert considered this work his main labor, although it did not achieve the same popularity as his other works, such as «Madame Bovary».