Saint Anthony of Padua and the Miracle of the Miser's Heart

1501

Not on view

The drawing depicts Saint Anthony of Padua performing a miracle, likely that of the miser’s heart. Preaching on the sin of greed, Saint Anthony, here seen at the near left, tells his listeners that a man’s heart ends up with his treasures. To prove his point, he opens the body of a recently deceased miser to reveal that it is empty: as Anthony predicted, the man’s heart is discovered in his money chest alongside his gold. In June 1501, the Venetian brothers Antonio and Tullio Lombardo were commissioned to carve two marble reliefs for the Chapel of Sant’Antonio in Padua, based on the approval of a drawing to be submitted by the artists. Antonio never completed his relief, on the subject of the miser’s heart, though it was much later executed, with several variations, by Tullio. This recently acquired drawing appears to be the only record of Antonio’s original idea for the composition and is one of two extant drawings that can be attributed to him.

Artwork Details

Title: Saint Anthony of Padua and the Miracle of the Miser's Heart
Artist: Antonio Lombardo (Italian, Venice ca. 1458–1516 Venice)
Date: 1501
Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash
Dimensions: sheet: 9 3/4 x 15 1/2 in. (24.8 x 39.3 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Charles and Jessie Price Gift, 2012
Object Number: 2012.50
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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