The Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto

St Anthony
Born in 1195 in Lisbon, St Anthony (christened Fernando) was a canon of the
Augustinian order in Coimbra before he donned the Franciscan habit in 1220
and set off for Morocco, having been inspired to undertake his mission by five
Franciscan friars who had been martryred by the Moroccan infidels. Soon taken
ill in Africa, he sailed back to Portugal but was blown off course and landed
in Sicily. From there Anthony headed north to Assisi, thence to a hermitage
near Forlì, where his oratorical skills and profound knowledge of the scriptures
were discovered when he was called upon to speak at a service for which no
one had thought to prepare a sermon. After that he embarked on a career as
a peripatetic preacher, addressing ever-increasing audiences in northern Italy
and southern France, performing miracles (illustrated by the panels around his
chapel) and bringing unbelievers into the fold. The “hammer of heretics” was
esteemed both by St Francis and by Pope Gregory IX, who acclaimed him as
the “doctor optime” upon hearing of Anthony’s death in 1231. In 1263 the saint’s
relics were removed to the basilica that had been built in his honour. When his
tomb was opened it was discovered that his flesh had turned to dust – except
for the tongue.
St. Anthony’s chaste life is symbolized by the lily that is his distinguishing
feature in depictions of him. He is also often portrayed holding the infant Jesus,
a reference to an incident when he was observed from afar cradling the Son of
God. His popularity has continued to grow after his death, and the abundance
of letters, photographs and gifts around his shrine confirms the endurance of the
belief in Anthony’s wonder-working powers. He is the patron saint of Portugal,
lost property, and the less exalted animal species – the last honour comes from
the legend that he preached to fishes when he could find no human audience.
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Padua and the southern veneto
| Padua
monument to Colleoni in Venice (and Colleoni was under Gattamelata’s
command for a time), but could hardly be more different; Gattamelata was
known for his honesty and dignity, and Donatello has given us an image
of comparative sensitivity and restraint, quite unlike Verrocchio’s image of
power through force. The modelling of the horse makes a double allusion: to
the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, and to the horses of San
Marco in Venice.
The Basilica di Sant’Antonio
Within eighteen months of his death in 1231, St Anthony of Padua had been
canonized and his tomb was attracting enough pilgrims to warrant the building
of the Basilica di Sant’Antonio, or Il Santo (Mon–Fri 6.30am–7pm,
Sat & Sun 6.30am–7.45pm; wwww.basilicadelsanto.it). It was not until the
start of the fourteenth century that the church reached a state that enabled
the saint’s body to be placed in the chapel designated for it. The exterior
is an outlandish mixture, with campanili like minarets, Byzantine domes and
Romanesque and Gothic features on the facade and apse.
The interior is similarly heterogeneous: the plan up to the transepts being
much like that of Italian mendicant churches, whereas the complex ambulatory
with radiating chapels is more like the layout of French pilgrimage
churches of the period. St Anthony’s chapel – the Cappella del Santo – is
in the left transept, plastered with votive photographs of healed limbs, car
crashes survived thanks to the saint’s intervention, and other offerings irresistible
to the voyeur. The chapel’s more formal decoration includes a sequence
of nine panels showing scenes from St Anthony’s life; carved between 1505