The Temple

The Temple is a painting made in 1949 by the Belgian artist Paul Delvaux. It depicts a classical temple building in moonlight, with the head of a statue and several modern objects in the foreground. The painting was made in Choisel outside Paris where Delvaux lived temporarily with his lover and future wife Anne-Marie "Tam" de Maertelaere. It is an oil painting with the dimensions . The Temples combination of classical elements and modern objects was inspired by the works of the Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico. Critics have discussed how the anachronism creates a connection between the past and present, the significance of the intact temple, and how the painting evokes beauty and poetry. The Temple is in a private collection and was last sold at auction in 2012. Background The Belgian painter Paul Delvaux made The Temple during a period when his paintings sold poorly and his private life had become complicated. His marriage had failed and in 1947 he had again met Anne-Marie "Tam" de Maertelaere, a woman he had fallen in love with already in 1928, and the two became lovers. Delvaux's art dealer offered to let Delvaux and Tam stay at a house Spaak owned in Choisel, a municipality outside of Paris, which Delvaux accepted after some hesitation. The couple stayed in Choisel from December 1948 to the end of July 1949. In addition to The Temple, Delvaux's more prominent paintings from this period include Woman at the Temple, The Annunciation and Ecce Homo. Delvaux and Tam eventually married. Subject and composition The Temple is painted in oil and has the dimensions . At the bottom right, it is signed and dated "P.Delvaux Choisel 3-49". It depicts a classical temple building seen from the front in moonlight. The intact temple has a frieze and pediment decorated with sculptures. Its cella—the inner temple room—is lit up and features a large female cult statue at the back.