The Holy Trinity flanked by St Mark and St Anthony the Hermit

The Holy Trinity flanked by St Mark and St Anthony the Hermit


Details

Museum
Belvedere
Year
1485
Medium
paint on softwood panel (probably fir)
Dimensions
175.5 × 151.5 cm

The story

Three arched fields sit under carved and gilded tracery canopies in this panel, which the Belvedere dates to around 1480 to 1490. In the centre God the Father, grey-bearded and wrapped in a red cloak, holds the body of his dead son, while the dove of the Holy Spirit hovers between their heads. The saints at the sides are known by their companions. St Mark has his winged lion at his feet. St Anthony the Hermit carries a bell, and a small pig looks up at him from the ground. Both belonged to the Antonites, a hospital order named after him that nursed victims of ergotism, a poisoning from fungus-infected rye called St Anthony's fire. Many towns let the order's pigs roam the streets, marked with bells. A wing with St Sebastian, also in the Belvedere, once hung beside this panel.

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