Saint Anthony

This image of Saint Anthony of Padua with the Christ Child on a book was carved in the kingdom of Kongo, which had adopted Christianity toward the end of the fifteenth century, shortly after the arrival of the Portuguese. Anthony is depicted here as a young monk in accordance with European tradition, but the child holds a fly whisk, a Kongolese emblem of power. Similar imagery could also have been used as power figures.帕多瓦的圣安东尼（Saint Anthony of Padua）与立于书本之上的圣婴基督的造像，雕刻于刚果王国（Kingdom of Kongo）境内。该国于十五世纪末葡萄牙人抵达后不久便皈依了基督教。依照欧洲传统，此处的圣安东尼被塑为年轻修士形象，但圣婴手中所持的蝇拂（fly whisk）实为刚果地区的权力象征。这类意象亦可被用作权力造像。