Saint Anthony of Padua – Museum of the City – Bettona

The compositional scheme of this table, which originally was a votive offering, often recurs in the work of Perugino, such as in San Francesco with the disciplined of Perugia and in the Altarpiece of Loreto.However in this canvas, unlike the others, the client is represented in small size and dressed in an armour while he is praying at the bottom left: it is Bartolomeo di Maraglia, lieutenant of Giampaolo Baglioni who had been taken prisoner in the battle of Marignano by Gaston De Foix and who, during his imprisonment, made a vow to Saint Anthony to be saved.

The Saint is represented in front of a parapet and he is holding his iconographic attributes, the book and the flame. The blackground is extremely simple, and the color of the wall was originally blue.

The table is preserved at the Pinacoteca Comunale of Bettona.

Perugino, Saint Anthony of Padua, 1512, tempera on canvas, Bettona, Pinacoteca Comunale