The Hermits, Saint Paul and Saint Anthony

This narrative work depicts the encounter of the hermit saints Paul and Anthony, who are sitting conversing at the entrance of a cave which serves as home for the former, who is wearing a tunic woven out of palm leaves, while the latter, the founder of the order of hospitaller brothers, is carrying a staff and wears his orders habit —a white tunic, a hooded cloak and a brown scapular. In the upper left-hand corner there is a palm tree that reminds us of the dates that sustained Saint Paul during his first years as a hermit and, on the opposite side, the crow which fed him with bread during the last years of his life approaches flying the two men’s heads, this time bearing a full loaf due to Saint Anthony’s visit. At their feet a stream is flowing and a duck, a toad, a rabbit, a snake, a lizard and an oyster shell stand out, all of the aforesaid being animals with negative connotations which may have been included in the scene in order to remind us of the temptations of Saint Anthony. On the right-hand side is a landscape in which tones of blue, characteristic of the painter, stand out, and various scenes from the lives of the saints are portrayed. Legend has it that, after praying all night, Paul told his guest that he was soon to die and wished to be buried wearing the tunic that Saint Athanasius had given him. Anthony went to the monastery to get this garment and, on returning, saw the soul of his friend ascending to heaven. Reaching the cave, he found the corpse kneeling in the entrance and, on trying to bury it, noticed how hard the stony ground was. This work passed to the MUNAL from the San Diego Viceregal Painting Gallery in the year 2000.