Spanish school of the 18th century

Spanish school of the 18th century.
"St. Anthony with Child".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has some flaws in the polychrome and Repainting. Generalized wear.
The frame has some flaws.
Measurements: 79 x 61 cm; 93 x 74 cm (frame).

In this canvas is represented Saint Anthony of Padua, dressed with Franciscan habit and with the branch of lily, with the Child Jesus in his arms. St. Anthony of Padua is, after St. Francis of Assisi, the most popular of the Franciscan saints. He is represented as a beardless young man with a broad monastic tonsure, dressed in the brown habit of the Franciscans. One of his most frequent attributes is the book, which identifies him as a sacred writer. Another distinctive iconographic feature is the branch of lily, an element taken from his panegyrist Bernardino de Siena. St. Anthony is usually presented with the Child Jesus, in allusion 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, in 1220 he entered the Order of Friars Minor, where he changed his first name, Fernando, to Antonio. After teaching theology in Bologna, he traveled through southern and central France, preaching in Arles, Montpellier, Puy, Limoges and Bourges. In 1227 he participated in the general chapter of Assisi. In 1230 he was in charge of the transfer of the remains of St. Francis. He preached in Padua and died there at the age of 36 in 1231. He was canonized only one 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 he became, at first, the national saint of the Portuguese, who placed under his patronage the churches they built abroad, and then a universal saint.