Die Muttergottes erscheint dem hl. Antonius

This 1648 canvas depicting the Virgin appearing to Saint Anthony of Padua — held in the Bavarian State Painting Collections — represents an important devotional type in Cano's output, combining Marian and Franciscan spirituality. Anthony of Padua, who died in 1231 and was canonised within a year, was among the most popular saints in Spain and its territories, venerated as the finder of lost things and a powerful intercessor. The vision of the Madonna and Child appearing to Anthony was a canonical subject that allowed painters to combine tender domestic intimacy with supernatural revelation. Cano's version reflects his post-Madrid period when he returned to Seville before ultimately settling in Granada, bringing refined painterly language developed through study of the royal collections into contact with Andalusian devotional traditions. The work was acquired by or for a Bavarian collection, likely through the art market activity that moved Spanish paintings northward during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Cano's soft modelling and warm palette give the apparition a gentle rather than overwhelming character.

The composition divides into a heavenly zone above — the Virgin enthroned on clouds with the Christ Child — and the earthly zone below where Anthony receives the vision. The transition is managed through diffuse light that suffuses both zones with a golden warmth. Cano's brushwork is fine and blended in the figures, with broader handling in the cloud and sky areas.