Flaubert, Gustave. La Tentation de Saint Antoine [“The Temptation of Saint Anthony.”]

The Temptation of St. Anthony, written by Gustave Flaubert, is a story originally inspired by a painting at the Balbi Palace in Genoa. Szyk's style of illustrations here, abstract, dreamy, and contemplative, relate beautifully to the subject of the work, St. Anthony, who was considered to be the father of the Ascetic movement in early Christianity. Szyk's illustrations for the book were produced through a painstaking process known as “pochoir,” a technique which uses multiple stencils to add each color within the image. See J.P. Ansell, Arthur Szyk: Artist, Jew, Pole (2004) p. 46.