David Teniers the Younger
Flanders; 1610-1690
Saints Antony and Paul in a Cave, c. 1635
oil on canvas; 26.5 x 32.5 inches
University purchase, 1970s
Known primarily for his rustic genre scenes, the Antwerp painter David Teniers the Younger rose to a position of titled nobility as court painter to Archduke Leopold William in Brussels. His paintings became highly prized in the following century and were collected by royal patrons such as Catherine the Great of Russia, who owned twenty-two examples of his work. One of his early religious compositions, this painting depicts the story told by St. Jerome of St. Antony's visit to St. Paul, when the two hermits were miraculously fed by a raven bearing a loaf of bread.