Originally a 30"x40" acrylic painting, now turned into an animation, depicting the engulfed mind of St. Anthony after consuming ergot-riddled bread.
"St. Anthony's Fire" is another name for long-term ergot poisoning caused by eating grain or bread contaminated with the fungus Claviceps Purpurea. The poisoning from ergot would cause seizures, gangrene, psychosis, nausea, and hallucinations. People that were affected by ergot poisoning thought it was divine punishment similar to the temptations of St. Anthony by the devil.
There has been suspicion amongst art historians that ergot poisoning might be the impetus for many of the out-of-place surrealist paintings made during the Renaissance period, such as the works of Heironymous Bosch or Jan Mandijn.
As you may know, ergot fungus was also one of the precursors used by Dr. Albert Hofmann in his original synthesis of LSD.
