Francisco de Zurbarán

St. Anthony Abbot
(c. 1630's), oil on canvas
Palazzo Pitti, Galleria Palatina; Florence, Italy
527 x 796 (79 KB)

Here is a close up of the pig above:
pig

Editor’s Note:

The image above is the best I could come up with to date. Unfortunately, St. Anthony's companion pig, peeking out from behind his right foot, is too dark to be seen clearly. He really is there, and this b/w close up is my best attempt to make the pig visible.

About the Artist

Francisco de Zurbarán, Spanish, (1598 — 1664). Zurbarán was a baroque painter, active mainly at the Spanish towns of Llerena, Madrid, and Seville. He devoted himself almost entirely to religious works, painting altarpieces or devotional objects that often hung on both sides of a central painting or altar.

He worked for churches, monasteries and ecclesiastical patrons over a wide area of southern Spain.

The most characteristic of his works are the single figures of monks and saints in meditation or prayer, most of which seem to have been executed in the 1630s. The figures are richly detailed and usually depicted against a plain background, standing out with massive physical presence.

Porkopolis