Explore the Central panel about the Description of this artwork, Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony.
The center panel exemplifies Bosch's attraction to the saintly ability of refusing temptation. It depicts the temptation of St. Anthony scene proper. At the center is the saint in contemplation, with a blessing hand pointing at his small cell inside a ruined tower  where a miniature Christ appears to point at the Crucifix, to suggest the true sacrifice in reply to the profanatory mass celebrated by demons and priestess at his left. A black-skinned priestess holds a vessel with a toad, a symbol of witchcraft as well as of luxury; the animal in turns holds an egg. A black-dressed singer has a pig face and a little owl (an allegory of heresy) above his head, while a crippled man is going to receive the communion. The saint looks out into the world while pointing in the direction of Christ; no one in the panel (world) is looking in His direction.
The background shows, at left, a city on fire, a traditional symbol of the protection granted by Anthony against ergotism and fire. The monks of the Order of St. Anthony specialized in the treatment and care of victims of ergotism (also known as St. Anthony's fire), who experienced burning sensations and hallucinations.
The demon group at the left, including a woman wearing a helmet resembling a hollow tree, may symbolize the bloody violence. The group in the water at right may be a devilish parody of either the flight into Egypt or the Adoration of the Magi; a third demonic group is that getting out from the red fruit in the foreground. This include a devil who is playing a harp, riding a chicken, and another moving around the fish-boat at the center.
In the sky are a ship-shaped bird, flying fish and winged boats. Finally, the bearded man with a top hat could be the wizard who has set up the whole visions package.In another interpretation, much of the images relate to ergotism and the forms of treatment at the time of Bosch.  The large fruit can be interpreted as a mandrake apple and the man wielding the sword can be seen as a reference to the uprooting ceremony. Mandrake root was used often as a protection against ergotism, and the fruit was used as an anesthetic, which helped with necessary amputations resulting from disease. The natural anesthetic also could kill the patients if given too much, and it also caused hallucinations of its own in addition to the hallucinations of ergotism, giving meaning to the violent nature of the characters surrounding the fruit in the panel. The images of fish and thistle relate to alchemy from the time and other 'cold' elements used to counter the 'hot' malady.
flight into Egypt symbol Order of St. Anthony harp St. Anthony's fire temptation of St. Anthony heresy Egypt toad Adoration of the Magi top hat little owl ergotism