St. Anthony Abbot with pig in a Flemish landscape with church. XVIIth cent

St. Anthony Abbot with a Pig in a Flemish Landscape with Church

Oil on oak panel.
Early 17th century.
Flemish School.

This oak panel, whose surface displays a beautiful, age-appropriate craquelure pattern, depicts St. Anthony Abbot, identifiable by his tau-shaped staff, his book, and the pig at his side, set within a richly detailed rural landscape.
In the background, a narrow steepled church typical of Northern Europe emphasizes the connection between faith and the natural world.

This type of composition belongs to the Flemish tradition of the late 16th century, in which nature is meticulously observed yet reinterpreted through a narrative and symbolic sensibility. The landscape becomes a true spiritual space, imbued with silent, almost fairy-tale atmospheres. Trees, paths, rocks, animals, and religious buildings come together in a poetic vision, suspended between reality and imagination, characteristic of early Flemish Mannerist expressions.

The isolated figure of the saint embodies, within this context, the deep unity between mankind, the created world, and the sacred.

St. Anthony Abbot is the patron saint of domestic animals, farmers, butchers, and those suffering from shingles (known as "St. Anthony's fire"). The small pig that accompanies him symbolizes not only his role as protector of animals but also the care offered to the sick by the Antonine order, which raised pigs to support their charitable work.

Dimensions:
33.6 cm with frame
23.3 cm without frame