The Temptation in the Wilderness by Briton Rivière

In this article

Christ alone in the desert

According to the Gospels, after his baptism Christ spent forty days fasting in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil. Briton Rivière, best known for animals, painted him completely alone in a vast, empty landscape at sunset.

The Temptation in the Wilderness dates from 1898 and belongs to the Guildhall Art Gallery in London.

A bowed figure in white

Christ in a pale robe sitting bowed on rocks — A bowed figure in white.

Christ sits hunched on the rocky ground, wrapped in a pale robe, his head bowed. There is no devil in sight. The temptation is shown as an inner struggle, in solitude and exhaustion.

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The Temptation in the Wilderness, painted by hand

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A burning sunset

Yellow and orange sunset sky above blue mountains — A burning sunset.

The sky glows yellow and orange above a dark, rocky plain and distant blue mountains. The huge landscape makes the single figure seem small and isolated.

Questions about The Temptation in the Wilderness

What story does it show?

Christ’s forty days in the wilderness, when he was tempted by the devil.

Where is it?

Guildhall Art Gallery, London.

Why is there no devil?

Rivière showed the temptation as a solitary inner struggle.

When was it painted?

In 1898.

For another moment when Christ faces the elements, see Aivazovsky's Jesus Walks on Water.

Sources and image credit

Wikimedia Commons: The Temptation in the Wilderness, Guildhall Art Gallery

Public-domain reproduction of The Temptation in the Wilderness (1898). Detail images are crops of the same image; no reconstruction or upscaling.