Sculpture Of St Anthony The Great Or St Anthony The Hermit - Polychrome - Early 17th Century -

The statue of St Anthony, early 17th century, is made of oak and original polychrome, bearing the letter Tau, as well as the attributes characterizing him, the pig and the book; This one has a very rare feature, he wears a reliquary on his chest. The base is later. St Anthony the Great was born in Upper Egypt around 255 and died in 356. Refugee in the desert, he was a monk considered the father of Christian monarchism. His life is revealed to us by the account of Athanasius of Alexandria around 360. At that time, only the pigs of the Antonines, recognizable by their bells, raised to feed the poor, were allowed to wander the streets. This is how the pig became the iconographic attribute of St Anthony. The cross of St Anthony, a Tau cross, takes the form of the Greek letter Tau and was first the sign of the Antonine monks; it was embroidered on the hooded homespun robe of these monks. This statue which bears the marks of time retains the sensitivity and emotion that the sculptor revealed at that time.