Reproductie van La tentation door Emile Auguste Carolus-Duran before 1876

This is Charles Michelez’s reproduction of “La Tentation” showing a man kneeling, facing and reaching towards a nude figure. The motif of temptation is a recurring theme across cultures. We see it in the story of Adam and Eve, the Buddha tempted by Mara, or even Saint Anthony. The gesture of reaching out to a tempting figure echoes poses of adoration, or supplication found in religious art, yet here, it's charged with a sense of conflict. This struggle between spiritual longing and earthly desire has manifested in art throughout history. Think of Botticelli's Venus, a blend of divine and sensual beauty or Titian's depictions of temptation. The motif is not static; it evolves, reflecting society’s changing views on desire, morality, and the human condition. This evolution reflects our collective psyche, revealing a deep-seated ambivalence towards pleasure. “La Tentation” encapsulates the eternal push and pull, a theme endlessly re-imagined.