Saint Anthony In Walnut - Burgundian Netherlands, 15th Century

Popularized by The Golden Legend of Jacques de Voragine, Antoine, an Egyptian hermit from the 3rd century, retired to the desert to live his faith in poverty and chastity. After resisting the attacks of the Devil, he taught the rest of his life to disciples who visited him to listen to him preach and join in his prayers. Upon his death, his relics were first transferred to Constantinople before joining, towards the middle of the 11th century, an abbey in Dauphiné which became famous under the name of Saint-Antoine-en-Viennois. It is around this place that the community of Antonines is organized, established as a hospital religious order in 1289, under the pontificate of Boniface VIII, specializing in the reception of infirm people suffering from contagious diseases (plague, leprosy, etc.). the evil of the Ardents” etc.). Dressed in a monastic robe, Antoine here sports a long beard and a serene face, reflecting the contemplative and devoted life of the hermit. In his right hand he holds a Tau, representing the crutch of the sick crippled by the evil of the Ardents , and on its left a book alluding to the Antonite rule. Under the latter, between his fingers, our protagonist holds a bell, associated in the iconographic tradition with the pig which hides at his feet, a privileged attribute of the saint, evoking the diabolical wild boar of the desert which, according to his legend, Antony would have domesticated and tamed, as well as the pigs of his order who were the only ones able to move freely in the streets, adorned with a bell.

Former Burgundian Netherlands
15th century