Saint Anthony

Inscriptions

Not signed.

Label

Religious icons of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and saints are popular devotional images in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since the medieval period, Greece, and especially Crete, was home to major workshops that produced these works for both local religious practice and export throughout the Mediterranean. In this painting, Egyptian ascetic Saint Anthony appears in simple garments holding his characteristic T-shaped staff. The gold background highlights the figure. In each corner, small narrative scenes distinguish important moments in Anthony’s life and death, especially the many temptations and tortures he suffered from the Devil. A painting like this one could have served as an important focus for the worship of Anthony, who was often associated with guarding against infection and sickness.

Written in 2024 by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art

Exhibition History

Harrington Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 12, 2024.

St. Anselm's College, Manchester, New Hampshire, April 1-May 15, 1969.

Provenance

Greek collection; sold to Professor George Dana Lord (1863-1945); sold to present collection, 1894.

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Subjects