St. Anthony, figure from ca. 1500, Stenderup Church, Eastern Jylland, The National Museum of Denmark (Copenhagen, Denmark). Made with Memento Beta (now ReMake) from AutoDesk.
St. Anthony (251-356), a hermit who lived in Egypt, was regarded as one of the founders of monastic life. His emblem was a T-shaped crozier, but he was often depicted with a bell in his hand and a pig at his feet, references to the begging and pig breeding of the Antonine monks.
The biography of Anthony’s life by Athanasius of Alexandria helped to spread the concept of Christian monasticism, particularly in Western Europe via its Latin translations. He is often considered the first Christian monk, but as his biography and other sources make clear, there were many ascetics before him. Anthony was, however, the first to go into the wilderness.
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