Pendant of Saint Anthony of Padua

Saint Anthony of Padua grew to become one of the most venerated saints in Kongo Christianity for his powers of healing and good fortune. Appearing in a range of devotional arts including pendants, crucifixes, and staffs, Saint Anthony is identified through his attributes of a cross in his right hand and the figure of the infant Christ in his left. In this example, Christ is balanced on a book and holds a goldfinch in his left hand while gesturing toward the cross with his right. Christ’s proximity to the cross alludes to his future sacrifice, as does the goldfinch, a symbol of both his crucifixion and resurrection. These distinctive motifs are associated with earlier depictions of the saint; images of the goldfinch and book generally grew smaller or completely disappeared in later models.




The popularity of Saint Anthony dramatically expanded in the seventeenth century alongside his embrace in Europe and South America. Claimed as a patron saint by Portugal and Italy, religious missionaries from both regions spread his cult globally. Locally made figures of Saint Anthony based on European prototypes became common around the eighteenth century. The practice was most likely related to the saint’s popularity in the Kongo Kingdom and was also tied to the short-lived Antonian movement, during which the Kongo noblewoman Beatriz Kimpa Vita gained a significant political following after declaring herself the reincarnation of Saint Anthony. To the chagrin of European missionaries, the Antonians adopted the metal, ivory, and wooden images of Saint Anthony, wearing the sculpture of the saint they called Toni Malau (meaning, “Anthony of Good Fortune”) as a protective amulet. Known as “little Anthonies,” her followers occupied the Kongo capital at Mbanza Kongo and traveled throughout the kingdom wearing their medallions and spreading the message of Dona Beatriz, who believed that Africanizing the church would strengthen the Kongo state, which was in disarray following a series of civil conflicts and the rising effects of the Transatlantic slave trade.




While the Antonian movement was repressed in 1706, Saint Anthony remained popular long after. Considered the “Saint of Prosperity,” his likeness continued to be used prominently in Kongo as a form of protection from illness, the troubles of childbirth, and other maladies.