Willem van Herp the Elder - Saint Anthony of Padua Distributing Bread [c.1662]

Willem van Herp the Elder - Saint Anthony of Padua Distributing Bread [c.1662], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The friars on the left are Franciscan and the one in the centre has a Glory, and may be intended to depict Saint Anthony of Padua. The poor on the right, who receive bread from the Franciscans, include two pilgrims. In 1662 van Herp was paid 95 guilders for a painting of Saint Anthony of Padua distributing bread. This may have been the picture; the documented picture was subsequently sent to Spain by the Antwerp dealer, Musson. Van Herp (c.1614 - 1677) was probably born in Antwerp, where he spent his entire working life. He was a painter of narratives.

[Oil on copper, 80 x 114.3 cm]