Saint Anthony of Padua

Anthony of Padua — the Portuguese-born Franciscan friar who died and was venerated in Padua — was a particularly significant saint in the context of Schiavone's career, given that his panels were produced in Padua itself, the city of Anthony's cult. The basilica and relics of Saint Anthony were the most important pilgrimage site in northern Italy, and his image appeared everywhere in Paduan religious art. Schiavone's panel in the National Gallery thus connects to the immediate devotional culture of the very city in which he trained and worked.

Anthony is typically depicted in brown Franciscan habit, holding a white lily and often a book. Schiavone renders the habit fabric with characteristic fold patterns providing formal repetition across the polyptych series.