Nossa Senhora da Azinheira Chapel III

The health of devotees and their crops are protected by the intercession of male and female saints. These saints are represented in these places of worship either in sculptures or in paintings. In this altarpiece, the trim is painted in an illusion perspective, acting as feigned architecture. The diversity of colours suggests several materials and the use of different techniques through the reproduction of a formal, classical repertoire. Saint Anthony of Lisbon or Padua, a renowned miracle-worker, appears at the centre of the altarpiece, easily identifiable for its most common attributes: he holds a bouquet of lilies on his right hand – a symbol of purity – and the baby Jesus rests on a closed book, on the left, an iconography suggestive of the miracle vision of the saint preaching. This image was widely disseminated by Spanish artists in the 17th and 18th centuries.