Bernardino Luini “Saint Anthony of Padua” Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan in Italy

Bernardino Luini (1475-1480 — June 1532) “Saint Anthony of Padua”

Painting - Tempera on Wood (57.7 x 95.5 cm) — 1510-1512

Bernardino Luini, Saint Anthony of Padua, Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan in Italy

Saint Anthony of Padua Contrary to what his name would suggest, Saint Anthony of Padua, born in Lisbon in 1195, was not Italian but Portuguese.

He wanted to go to Africa, but the winds pushed the boat that carried him to Sicily, so he ended up in Italy.

He lived in Italy and France and ended his life in a cell he built in the branches of a walnut tree near Padua.

In 1231, being seriously ill, he had to leave his cell to go to Padua, where he died.

In 1232, barely a year after his death, he was already canonized, and his tomb was placed in the Basilica of Santo in Padua.

In the 15th century, several miracles were attributed to him.

The first miracle was the sermon to the fish on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, where schools of fish came to listen to him with their gills above the water.

The second miracle was a vision of the Madonna entrusting the Child Jesus to her for a few moments, and Saint Anthony would have put Jesus on the book he was reading in solitude.

Saint Anthony of Padua Hence, the lily flower is attributed to Saint Anthony; the lily flower, which is also attributed to the Madonna, usually appears on the famous book on which Jesus was sitting.

A third miracle would be that to force a Jew named Zacharie Guillard to believe in the presence of God during the Eucharist, Saint Anthony of Padua would have suggested to a mule who had an empty stomach the choice between oats and a consecrated host. Obviously, the mule knelt before the host.

Finally, a fourth miracle is also attributed to Saint Anthony of Padua, the miracle of the sliced foot.

A son had kicked his mother, and Saint Anthony had quoted the Gospel to him: “If your foot scandalizes you, cut it off: it is better for you to come into life limping than to be thrown with both feet into Gehenna” (Mk 9:45).

The young man immediately cut off his foot.

Moved, Saint Anthony would then have made the sign of the cross and then put his leg and foot together.

Here, Bernardino Luini represented Saint Anthony in Franciscan dress, holding the triple fleur-de-lis and the book where the Infant Jesus had been sitting.

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