Italian school; 18th century.
"Saint Anthony of Padua".
Oil on canvas. Re-coloured.
It presents faults and repainting on the pictorial surface.
Measurements: 64 x 52 cm.
Saint Anthony of Padua is, after Saint Francis of Assisi, the most popular of the Franciscan saints. He is represented as a beardless young man with a large monastic tonsure, dressed in the brown habit of the Franciscans. One of his most frequent attributes is the book, which identifies him as a holy writer. Another distinctive iconographic feature is the branch of lily, an element borrowed from his panegyrist Bernardine of Siena. Saint Anthony is often depicted with the Infant Jesus, alluding to an apparition he had in his cell. It became the most popular attribute of this saint from the 16th century onwards, being especially popular in the Baroque art of the Counter-Reformation. He was born in Lisbon in 1195 and only spent the last two years of his life in Padua. After studying at the convent of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, he entered the Order of Friars Minor in 1220, where he changed his Christian name from Fernando to Antonio. After teaching theology in Bologna, he travelled through southern and central France, preaching in Arles, Montpellier, Puy, Limoges and Bourges. In 1227 he took part in the general chapter at Assisi. In 1230 he was involved in the transfer of the remains of St Francis. He preached in Padua and died there at the age of 36 in 1231. He was canonised only a year after his death, in 1232. Until the end of the 15th century, the cult of St. Anthony remained located in Padua. From the following century onwards, he became, at first, the national saint of the Portuguese, who placed the churches they built abroad under his patronage, and then a universal saint.