Saint Anthony - Burgundy, Early 16th century

This Tonnerre stone sculpture of Saint Anthony finely illustrates the stylistic transition between Gothic tradition and the early stirrings of the Renaissance in early 16th-century Burgundy. The saint, recognizable by his monastic habit and characteristic cap, is captured in a meditative pose marked by a rare emotional intensity. This expressiveness, inherited from the art of the great 15th-century Burgundian ymagiers, is evident in the treatment of Anthony’s features—his furrowed brow, lowered eyelids, and slightly parted lips.

The "wet" drapery of his tunic, with its fluid and naturalistic folds, clings closely to the volume of the body. With remarkable sensitivity, it reveals the curvature of the saint’s leg, prefiguring—much like the Saint Anthonys of Saint-Romain, Guerfand, or Rougemont—the formal concerns that would come to define the Renaissance.