During the 19th century, society evolved from the romantic days of Lord Byron to the decadent era of Sacher-Masoch. In reaction, men were taught to regard all sources of physical temptation as suspect or even diabolical. Such a societal change in the male mindset would explain men's strong fear of women evident during that time. Because artists are the messengers of their society, culture and spirit, it comes as no surprise that the dark side of womanhood — marked by the symbol of the Femme Fatale — inspired many artists of the Symbolist movement.

At that time, more than ever before, men were torn between their religious faith, with its images of male power, and succumbing to the "dangerous" power of the female. This power has often been represented in artwork, but never as strongly as during the Symbolist movement. Many works of art have represented the dilemma between fortitude and sexual temptation of which Félicien Rops's Temptation of Saint Anthony is among the most overt examples. Of all the works about the Femme Fatale, this symbolically rich painting is surely one of the most provocative.

In the painting, a lascivious naked woman replaces the Christ on the cross. The traditional bleeding Christ, now pushed aside, symbolizes the ultimate suffering, while the surrendering woman is smiling. A tormented Saint Anthony, holding his head, is overwhelmed by the intensity of his dilemma. The opposition of the symbols is clear: on one hand the painful struggle of Saint Anthony — in his monastic robe and sandals — to adhere to his religious vows, and, on the other hand, sexual pleasure as symbolized by the voluptuous temptress.

Numerous symbolic elements reinforce the woman's powers of sexual seduction. In total contrast with the Christ, with one nail still in his right hand, the woman's hands are attached loosely and gracefully to the cross symbolizing an invitation for a consensual sado-masochist interlude. The flowers in her hair signify the light perfume of romance in the air. As if more symbols of the woman's seductive role were needed, flames to her right reflect her burning sexual desire, and the traditional word INRI on the cross is replaced by the word EROS.

The devil behind the woman personifies the evil she is thought to embody, and implies her demonic objective. On the left, amidst a cascade of blossoms, float two small allegorical figures, their top halves skeletal and their bottom halves in human, cherubic form. These figures imply that would the saint succumb to the temptation, his genitals would be alive, but his heart, head and soul would be dead. The theme of love and death places the viewer in the center of the Eros and Thanatos dialectic.

In ancient Greece, while Eros is the small, adorable, winged character with a bow, waiting to send an arrow of love, Thanathos is the macabre, skeletal character who carries the souls to the underworld.

Standing with his front legs on massive tomes, a swine gazes at the temptress writhing seductively on the cross. The trampled books represent the religious tradition, while the pig symbolizes lust. The Latin title of Saint Anthony's book reads “De Continentia Josephi” or “Joseph's Continence,” a reminder of Jesus's father and his sexual self-constraint with the Virgin Mary. The colored illustration above the book's title shows a woman trying to catch a man.

During the time of the Symbolist movement, Sigmund Freud was establishing his psychoanalytic theory by exploring unconscious sexual urges. With the ego (Saint Anthony) torn between the id (sexual desire) and the superego (religious discipline), Rops's Temptation of Saint Anthony is a perfect illustration of Freud's theories.