Saint Anthony Portrait, Claudio Coello

Late 17th Century, Giclee Print on Textured Paper

He is dressed in the typical Franciscan robe, fastened by the rustic cord with the three knots symbolizing the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. The writings of Saint Bernardine of Siena described Saint Anthony as corpulent and short, but the usual iconography preferred to soften his physiognomy and insist on the amiability or gallantry of his person. For this reason, the most frequently depicted scene, is of vision which occurred during a trip to France, when the Virgin appeared to him in a room, presenting to him the Infant Jesus. The figure is similar in its treatment to the sculptural monumentality typical of Coello´s creations. The soft working of the habit, with its bulky, heavy folds, which Coello used to express his volumetric sense and spatial conceit, is also present here. The artist also returns to his preference for placing his figures on steps or benches, bestowing on them an augmented sense of dignity and composure, fully exploiting the effects of perspective. The similar dimensions of Saint Anthony and Saint Francis of Assisi and the mirroring of their attitudes suggest that the two works were paired together in an unknown set, such as an altarpiece in a Franciscan convent in which these canvases formed the side streets. The biography of the saints may suggest that the central box of this altarpiece was presided over by a Marian sculpture.