Willem van Herp I Antwerp 1614 (?) - 1677

This unusual subject depicts an episode from the life of Saint Anthony of Padua. The father of Saint Anthony, Don Martin Bouillon, had been falsely accused of the murder of a young nobleman. In order to defend his father and uphold his innocence, Saint Anthony found himself miraculously transported from his residence at the convent of Arcella (near Padua) to the courtroom in Lisbon where his father was standing trial. Declaring his father innocent of the murder he pronounced that “the murdered man shall bear witness as to the truth of my testimony”. The moment depicted here shows in the background the raising of the murdered man and in the foreground the moment of his testimony.