Raffaello (1483-1520)
Sant’Antonio da Padova (Saint Anthony of Padua)
c.1502
Oil on panel, 25.7 x 16.4 cm
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
This panel was originally part of the base (predella) of the Colonna Altarpiece (Pala Colonna).
Saint Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and close follower of the revered Saint Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226). Leaving his life of wealth and comfort in Portugal, Anthony joined the Franciscan Order, preaching, teaching, and performing miracles in Italy. Because of his good deeds, he was one of the most quickly canonised saints in the history of the Catholic Church, as Anthony was canonised by Pope Gregory IX less than a year after his death. The patron saint of the lost and stolen, Saint Anthony is often portrayed holding a lily and a book, as seen in this painting.
Along with a small painting depicting Saint Francis of Assisi – also in the Dulwich Picture Gallery collection – this is one of the outer panels from a predella, the long horizontal structure at the base of an altarpiece. It formed part of the Colonna Altarpiece, which was painted by the Italian artist Raphael (1483-1520) in around 1502 for the Franciscan convent of Sant’Antonio in Perugia, Italy. The intact altarpiece hung in a part of the church reserved for the nuns of the convent until 1663 when the nuns of Sant’Antonio sold the predella to cover their debts. The main part of the altarpiece, together with one predella panel, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The other predella panels are in the National Gallery, London and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston. (DPG)
The Colonna Altarpiece
Raffaello (1483-1520)
Pala Colonna
c.1504–1505
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Main panel:
Raffaello (1483-1520)
Madonna in trono con santi
c.1504–1505
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Predella:
Raffaello (1483-1520)
San Francesco d’Assisi
c.1502
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
Raffaello (1483-1520)
L’orazione nell’Orto
c.1504–1505
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Raffaello (1483-1520)
Processione al Calvario
c.1504–1505
National Gallery, London
Raffaello (1483-1520)
Pietà
c.1503–1505
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Raphael painted this altarpiece around 1504/5 for the Franciscan convent of Sant’Antonio in Perugia. It hung in a part of the church reserved for the nuns, who may have insisted on its conservative details, such as the elaborately clothed Christ. By contrast, the weighty male saints reflect the progressive style developed by Leonardo da Vinci and Fra Bartolomeo that Raphael had just begun to study in Florence. The lunette above the main panel depicts God the Father holding a globe and delivering a blessing between two angels and two seraphim. (MET)