WHY IS A PIG DEPICTED IN THE ICONOGRAPHY OF ST. ANTHONY OF EGYPT (Jan 17 - feast)?
The association of St. Anthony (c. 251 AD – 356 AD) with the pig began at least as long ago as c. 1095 with the formation of the Order of Hospitallers who choose St. Anthony as their patron. In the Middle Ages the Order of Hospitallers of St. Anthony specialized in treating diseases of the poor in medieval cities.
The Hospitallers established monasteries, hospitals and shrines to St. Anthony throughout Europe. Those afflicted with St. Anthony’s Fire, a name for an inflammation of the skin due to ergot poisoning, were their most common patients.
The Order of the Hospitallers had the Church’s authorization to support their charities by raising swine. Townsfolk often donated the smallest pig, or runt, from their own pigs’ litters to the Hospitallers who then released the small young pigs to roam about the medieval streets, marked with bells tied around their necks.
These runt pigs became common and persistent beggars to survive. The survivors were brought back into the fold of the Hospitallers husbandry if they prospered. These pigs provided pork and lard for the Hospitallers and their patients. It is because of this association that St. Anthony is often depicted with a pig at his feet.
Source: National Gallery, United Kingdom
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