Italian school; XVIII century.

Italian school; XVIII century.
"St. Anthony of Padua with Child".
Oil on slate.
Presents restorations.
It has frame of the twentieth century.
Measurements: 27 x 22 cm; 35 x 29,5 cm (frame).
In this religious scene the theme of the apparition of the Child Jesus to San Antonio de Padua is represented. In front of the saint, kneeling and dressed with habit, we see the Child Jesus on a base of clouds. The position of both characters is typically baroque: the saint brings his hands to his chest while he humbly bows his face while looking at the Child. It is interesting to mention the support of this work, since during the 16th century, the use of slate as a base for painting became popular, an example of this is given by the exhibition held at the Prado Museum, in 2018 "In lapide depictum", which brought together a set of nine works made on monochrome stone, slate and marble, made by artists such as Piombo, Titian, Daniele da Volterra and Leandro Bassano.

Saint Anthony of Padua or of Lisbon (Lisbon, ca. 1191 to 1195 - Padua, 1231) was a Franciscan friar, preacher and theologian, venerated for his miracles and as a saint and Doctor of the Church, who was first a member of the Order of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, until he became a Franciscan in 1220. St. Anthony of Padua is, after St. Francis of Assisi, the most popular of the Franciscan saints. He is depicted as a beardless youth in broad monastic tonsure, dressed in habit, and usually appears with the Infant Jesus, holding him in his arms, 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.