Saint Anthony of Padua

Lorenzo Ghiberti called Maso "a man of greatest genius." Although his oeuvre is small, he clearly was the greatest pupil of Giotto di Bondone, the pioneering Florentine painter. This representation of Saint Anthony of Padua—an early follower of Saint Francis—has the weight and gravitas that are characteristic of Giotto’s work. The panel is an element from an altarpiece painted for a Franciscan church, the central panel of which is the Madonna and Child in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.