Diego de Borgraf (Antwerp, Flanders, 1618 – Puebla, Viceroyalty of New Spain, 1686)

Diego de Borgraf (Antwerp, Flanders, 1618 – Puebla, Viceroyalty of New Spain, 1686)"Saint Anthony the Great with Donor"Oil on canvas.  66 x 97 cm.  In this horizontally formatted painting, we contemplate various scenes from the life of Saint Anthony the Great, depicted in different planes and perspectives behind a clergyman donor, who appears in prayerful attitude on the left side. The donor is portrayed as rugged and stern, serious and unattractive.During his ascetic retreat in the desert, Saint Anthony endured numerous temptations from the devil. In one instance, the devil disguised himself as a seductive woman to lure him into the sin of lust. In another, the Egyptian monk was violently tormented by a group of demons of various forms and colors.  In this painting we can observe the artist’s interest in portraying these episodes in great detail, depicting realistic faces imbued with either a rugged character (the donor) or mystical depth (the saint), giving them great expressiveness.Diego de Borgraf, a Flemish painter active in New Spain during the 17th century, developed a pictorial style that fused the Flemish landscape tradition with the iconographic needs of the viceroyalty. His mastery in portraying the natural environment as a sacred space is evident in several of his works, including the Saint Anthony the Great and the Donor we have here.  In this painting, the figure of the saint merges with a detailed landscape, where scenes from his life are integrated into a mystical atmosphere that reinforces the devotional message of the artwork.  This treatment of the landscape and the insertion of narrative episodes recall other artworks by Diego de Borgraf, particularly in how he structures space and uses light to emphasize the spirituality of the scene.  In our view, this painting must be related to the series of 13 hermit saints created by Diego de Borgraf and his workshop and kept in the Museo Universitario Casa de los Muñecos in Puebla, Mexico. These paintings are based on Flemish engravings by Maarten de Vos and themes derived from the Vita Antonii. These scenes, characterized by wooded settings, depict certain anchorites organized into lavras (monastic communities) and others in the strict penance typical of primitive monasticism. Among all the hermits, we can establish similarities between this painting and Saint Arsenius, Saint Onophrius, and Saint Fulgentius, where the treatment of the landscape and visual narrative play a decisive role in expressing mysticism.  In the painting of Saint Arsenius, the relationship between the saint and his natural surroundings is a key element. Borgraf places the saint in a secluded environment, surrounded by twisted trees and with ruins of architecture in the background, reinforcing the idea of abandoning the earthly world. The figure, with a long beard and austere clothing, is analogous to that of Saint Anthony the Great in the painting we are studying here. Additionally, the use of cool tones and the balanced composition between the main figure and the landscape are features present in both pieces.  Saint Onophrius also shows saint in an attitude of penance and contemplation, just like this Saint Anthony the Great and the Donor. The figure appears semi-naked with a long beard, characteristic of hermits. The integration of the character into a natural setting where vegetation occupies much of the composition is also observed in the work of Saint Anthony. Moreover, the way the painter uses light to highlight the saint’s figure amidst a shadowy landscape is a constant in his production.  In Saint Fulgentius, we again observe the construction of a sacred space within the landscape. The work depicts the saint praying inside a cave, with a small altar inside and a stormy sea in the background. The depth of the composition and the arrangement of elements recall the structure of this Saint Anthony the Great and the Donor, where the environment also frames the spiritual meaning of the scene. In both paintings, Borgraf emphasizes meditation and the isolation of the saint, surrounded by a landscape that conveys a sense of transcendence.  As a summary, we find the following stylistic elements in this painting and other comparative works by Borgraf, which allow us to confidently attribute the work under study to the Flemish master:  The integration of the landscape into sacred narrative: In all these paintings, the landscape is not merely decorative but plays an active role in representing spiritual retreat and the communion of the saint with nature.  The use of secondary episodes: Both in the painting of Saint Anthony the Great and in the others, episodes from the saint’s life are included in the background, expanding the iconographic reading and reinforcing the narrative dimension.  Dramatic lighting and tonality: Borgraf employs contrasted lighting, with light and shadow emphasizing the spirituality of the scene. In Saint Anthony the Great and the Donor, the light highlights the donor and the saint, while in Saint Fulgentius and Saint Arsenius, it is used to delineate the depth of the landscape.  The balance of composition: Figures are distributed in space in a harmonious order, allowing the landscape to unfold without overshadowing the central scene. In Saint Anthony the Great and the Donor, the figure of the donor and Saint Anthony are balanced with the dynamism of the background, just as in Saint Onophrius and Saint Arsenius.  Saint Anthony the Great is the patriarch of the cenobites of Thebaid. His life was described in Greek around 357 by Saint Athanasius and later translated into Latin by Evagrius of Antioch, spreading throughout medieval Western Europe. This text established the most frequent characteristics of monastic literature.  He is often depicted as an elderly man with a beard, wearing a hooded habit. His most common attributes include the tau-shaped staff or potent cross, sometimes embroidered on his habit, as well as the book, rosary, bell, flames of Saint Anthony’s fire, and the pig.  By the late Middle Ages, devotion to Saint Anthony the Great experienced significant revitalization with the emergence and development of new spiritual currents, which exalted the hermetic life as the ideal of monastic existence, pushing to the extreme the rejection of material goods and, in general, all worldly ways of life.  Reference Bibliography:- Albarrán Samaniego, Arturo. “Los santos ermitaños de Puebla, México.Un acercamiento a los grabados flamencos de Maarten de Vos y al discurso iconográfico de la Vida Antonii”. Escuela de Diseño del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, México.- Toussaint, Manuel. (1948). "Arte Colonial en México". Imprenta Universitaria.- Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL), Ciudad de México. Exhibitions and permanent collections.