Who painted Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel]?

Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel] was painted by Puccio di Simone in 1354.

Where can I see Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel]?

Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel] is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel]?

Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel] is associated with Early Renaissance.

Can I buy a print of Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel]?

Museum-quality prints of Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel] are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel] by Puccio di Simone (1354)

Inscription: Inscribed:on Saint Anthony's halo: .S[AN]C[TU]S.ANTONIVS.D[E].VIENA

About this work

Subject & Meaning

The left panel depicts Saint Anthony Abbot, a subject chosen for its direct connection to the church of Sant’Antonio Abate fuori Porta Pisana in Fabriano, for which the work was likely commissioned. As a religious painting created in 1354, the image serves the specific liturgical function of honoring the patron saint of the Augustinian canons who officiated at that site. These canons belonged to the Hospitaler order of Saint-Antoine de Vienne, an organization historically dedicated to caring for the sick, particularly those suffering from ergotism, known as "Saint Anthony's Fire."

By placing the saint in the high altar context, the artwork visually reinforces the spiritual authority and charitable mission of the religious order that founded and maintained the church.

Technique & Style

The medium and support combination was standard for Italian panel paintings of this period, ensuring durability for liturgical display.

Created in 1354, the left panel depicting Saint Anthony Abbot is executed in tempera on a wooden panel support. The work is attributed to Puccio di Simone, with some records also listing Allegretto Nuzi as a potential creator. As a religious painting from the mid-fourteenth century, the piece reflects the formal conventions of its era through its use of traditional egg tempera applied to a rigid panel surface.

The medium and support combination was standard for Italian panel paintings of this period, ensuring durability for liturgical display.

The painting's condition and handling are not detailed in the provided sources, though its provenance indicates it was likely commissioned for the high altar of the church of Sant'Antonio Abate fuori Porta Pisana in Fabriano before entering private collections and eventually the National Gallery of Art. The attribution has shifted over time, with the piece appearing in a 1916 auction catalog as the work of Allegretto Nuzi before being reattributed to Puccio di Simone in later scholarship.

History & Provenance

Saint Anthony Abbot was probably commissioned in 1354 for the high altar of the church of Sant'Antonio Abate fuori Porta Pisana in Fabriano, a foundation of the Antonine canons of Saint Augustine recorded from 1313. By the early nineteenth century the panel was no longer in the church and had presumably entered a local private collection. It later surfaced in Wales with Joseph Russell Bailey, 1st Baron Glanusk, at Glanusk Park, passing by inheritance to his son Joseph Henry Russell Bailey, 2nd Baron Glanusk, who sold it in 1915.

The work appeared at Sotheby's in London on 25 July 1916 (lot 137, attributed to Allegretto Nuzi), where it was bought by Walter Dowdeswell for Duveen Brothers. It passed to Carl W. Hamilton in New York in the early 1920s, returned to Duveen Brothers by 1929, and was sold on 15 December 1936 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust in Pittsburgh, which gifted it to the National Gallery of Art in 1937.

The left panel of Saint Anthony Abbot is held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as part of the Andrew W. Mellon collection. The work entered the museum's holdings in 1937 as a gift from The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, which had purchased it from Duveen Brothers in 1936. Prior to its arrival in the United States, the painting was owned by the British peer Joseph Russell Bailey, 1st Baron Glanusk, and his son, before being sold at Sotheby's in London in 1916.

The sources do not list specific exhibition histories for this panel, focusing instead on its provenance from its likely original location in Fabriano to its current institutional home.

Overview

Puccio di Simone's "Saint Anthony Abbot [left panel]" is a tempera painting created in 1354. This work constitutes the left section of a larger triptych, presenting a bearded man in dark robes holding a staff. The painting exemplifies 14th-century Italian panel painting, characterized by its structured composition and the prominent use of gold, which contributes to its overall visual richness and devotional quality.