Christ sits alone on a rock in a stony desert at dawn, hands clasped tight, facing the temptation told in the Gospels. Ivan Kramskoi shows a tired man deep in thought rather than a triumphant saviour, in cold, pale colour. Shown at the second Peredvizhniki exhibition in 1873, it was bought by Pavel Tretyakov, and Kramskoi turned down the Academy professorship offered for it.
Look closer
Christ's bare feet rest on sharp stones, and the horizon cuts the canvas almost exactly in half behind him.
Looks like this
Compared by a vision model
