Saint Anthony

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The image of Saint Anthony of Padua cradling the Christ Child on a book was skillfully carved in the Kongo kingdom, where Christianity had taken hold towards the end of the fifteenth century shortly after the Portuguese arrived. Depicted here is Anthony as a youthful monk, following European tradition, yet the child holds a fly whisk, a symbol of Kongolese power and authority. This imagery could also have been used to represent powerful figures.