Christ in the Desert

Christ in the Desert or Christ in the Wilderness (Russian: Христос в пустыне, tr. Khristos v pustyne) is an 1872 painting by Russian artist Ivan Kramskoi, reflecting the temptation of Christ. Kramskoi was offered a professorship for the painting by the Russian Academy of Arts Council, but having learned that in the beginning of 1873, rejected it (he had been expelled from the Academy earlier, and chose to keep his "youthful commitment to independence from the Academy"). Subsequently, it became one of the favourite paintings of Pavel Tretyakov, who bought it for his gallery in the year the painting was finished.