SAINT ANTHONY BASILICA IN PADUA | SAINT ANTHONY CHURCH IN PADUA

Saint Anthony Basilica in Padua

It is thus that the Basilica of Saint Anthony is called and it
was built immediately after the death of the Franciscan monk in 1231 over the ancient little Church of Saint Mary where he wanted to be buried.

The building is particularly imposing due to the blending of Romanic and Gothic elements and even Oriental motifs appear especially in the central dome and the lateral bell-towers, like minarets. Additions and restructurization were made over the centuries, making the Basilica the main Paduan temple: the commune itself took part in its creation.

Inside, important frescoed cycles by Altichiero, Avanzo and Giusto
de' Menabuoi are preserved and above all: there is the main altar made by Donatello in 1444, a masterpiece by the Tuscan
maestro, the other fundamental I evidence of whose activity in Padua is the equestrian statue of the condottiere Gatamelata(1447) which isfound in the Church-square. Also in the Church-square, to the south, there is the Oratory of Saint George with frescoes by Altichiero (1384) and the School of the Saint where, in 1511, Tiziano Vecellio (Titian) painted three stories of the life of Saint Anthony.

The Chapel of Saint James in the Basilica

In 1372, Bonifacio Lupi di Soragna, commander of the Carrarese troops had a chapel in the name of Saint James built inside the Basilica. The architectural style is pure Gothic and the sculptures on the front are by the Venetian Andriolo de Santi whilst the frescoes which decorate the chapels interior depicting stories of Saint James are masterpieces by the Veronese artist Altichiero who painted them in an entirely Gothic style before the end of 1379. The chapel was later named after Saint Felix when, in 1503, the Saints body was entombed in the altar, the work of the sculptor Giovanni Minello.

The Oratory of Saint George at the Basilica

In 1377 Raimondino, another member of the Lupi di Soragna I family, condottieri of the Carrarese troops, began the con- struction of the family mausoleum in the Churchyard of the Saint. It was copied from the models of the Scaligeran tombs. Inside, a huge monument once I rose, of which today nothing re- maillS but a few fragments: it was the work of Altichiero d'Avanzo and was finished, with frescoes on the wall, by the end of 1384.

With the great Cruciflxion on the back wall, the frescoed stories are of the lives of Saint George, Saint Catherine and Saint Lucy and are depicted in an acute, realistic manner which distances itself from the more Gothic style of the frescoes in Saint James' Chapel.