press x to close
St. Anthony of Padua Icon
Wood-mounted icons are on 5/8" ProWood® Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) with a wood-look foil finish, with tee-slots milled in the back for easy hanging. Icons are finished in classic cherry to replicate the traditional icon red, in keeping with Byzantine tradition. (Ancient icon board edges were frequently coated with red bole, a form of clay). Each mounted icon comes with a descriptive pamphlet explaining the symbolism and history of the image.
Please allow 5-10 business days for orders of 20 or more icons.
Our icon designs are also available as unmounted prints in sanctuary-size enlargements up to 38 inches wide. The latest technology enables enlargement without sacrificing quality. We do not currently have the ability to mount these prints on wood or any other material. You may purchase your own frame from a custom frame shop. Call 800-889-0105 for pricing and ordering.
One of the most popular saints in Catholicism, the great Evangelical Doctor, St. Anthony of Padua (d. 1231) was actually from Lisbon, Portugal. He was a renowned preacher and one of St. Francis of Assisi’s favorite disciples. St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost items, also of pregnant and barren women, and is known for his special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
This image is taken from traditional depictions of St. Anthony of Padua in Roman Catholic devotional art. Yet here he is pictured in a frontal portrait bust in the Byzantine-Slav style of icons. The icon was commissioned by St. Anthony’s Elementary School in Renton, Washington. Iconographer Pat O’Brien’s granddaughter, Bridget, attended the school at the time the icon was written.
St. Anthony is dressed in the simple religious habit of a Franciscan, a hooded robe bound at the waist by rope. In one hand he holds a flaming cross, alluding to his fiery preaching of the Gospel. In his other arm he holds the Christ Child. This imagery stems from depictions of the saint reading the scriptures, and the infant Christ appearing in the book as the living Word of God. Over time this developed into the image of the baby Jesus standing on a gospel book, and later images in which the Bible disappeared completely, leaving only the child. In Christ’s lap is a basket containing bread for the poor—a symbol of St. Anthony’s care for those less fortunate.
Near Jesus’ halo is the christogram, the abbreviated form of his name and title; the marking above the letters is called a titlo, a Cyrillic alphabet symbol that denotes important abbreviations. The cruciform part of his halo has the Greek word “HO ON,” which means “the one who is[,was, and who is to come]” (Rev. 1:8). Alongside St. Anthony’s head is his name in Greek.
The halos of icons are meant to represent an illumination of light all around the heads of the holy ones. Later traditions in Western art turned this into a crown, applying Renaissance techniques of foreshortening and perspective. Here, however, the halos are meant to show the heavenly light that now emanates from those who share in the divine life of heaven. What we see in this icon is St. Anthony as he appears now in glory, still interceding for us in our various needs.
