Saint Anthony of Padua Taking the Habit of the Franciscan Order

Inside a typical Renaissance church complete with an altarpiece of the Madonna and Child between two saints, Saint Anthony of Padua (born Fernando Martins de Bulhões, 1195-1231), takes his vows as a Franciscan monk. The saint is shown kneeling humbly before his superior who offers the order's distinctive brown habit. According to legend, Anthony was a Dominican before adopting the Franciscan rule, hence the two Dominicans standing behind Anthony holding their dinstictive black and white habit which he has cast off. A group of Franciscans stand at the right and sing in celebration while a group of finely dressed young, presumably representing the rich social environment of Anthony's upbrining in Lisbon, are shown near the door of the church at the left.

As indicated by its small size and horizontal orientation, the picture was originally part of a predella, the lowest register of an altarpiece. Predellas were often illustrated with scenes from the lives of the figures represented in the altarpiece’s central compartments. This painting, together with its companion panel depicting the “A Franciscan Monk Preaching” (Walters 37.507), must have come from a now-unidentified altarpiece in a Franciscan church.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1881 catalogue: no. 29; 1897 catalogue: no. 79]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.