St. Anthony Abbot

Abstract

This painted wood sculpture can be attributed to Francesco di Valdambrino on the basis of style and technique. The missing left hand probably held a tau (upper-case t-shaped) cross, generally shown in depictions of the popular saint. The artist has given the saint a furrowed brow and richly detailed full beard, very like in contemporary paintings (such as Martino di Bartolomew's 1389 fresco of the saint in San Giovanni dei Cavalieri Gerosolimitani, Cascina), but has added an impressive sense of weight both in the body and in the ample folds of the drapery. Anthony's Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.