Saint Anthony of Padua reviving a Dead Man

Painted around 1635 and now in the Scottish National Gallery, this depiction of Saint Anthony of Padua raising a dead man belongs to the tradition of miracle paintings that Baroque patronage actively encouraged as instruments of Counter-Reformation devotion. Anthony of Padua was among the most popular saints of the Catholic world, and his miracle of reviving the dead — which established his innocence in a defamation case according to hagiographic tradition — had obvious apologetic force in an age of confessional conflict. Sacchi's treatment reflects the influence of his years studying the Carracci in Rome: the composition is tightly organised around a powerful diagonal linking the saint and the reviving figure, while the surrounding crowd provides a graduated scale of astonishment that guides the viewer's emotional response from shock to reverent wonder.

Oil on canvas, the work demonstrates Sacchi's sophisticated handling of large figure groups without sacrificing the psychological clarity he prized. Flesh tones are built through careful glazing, and the dead man's pallor is achieved by deliberate suppression of warm undertones relative to the living figures around him.