Fioretti of Saint Anthony

The reputation of the wonders and miracles performed by St. Anthony of Padua found its place in the first biographies devoted to him. Among these was The Book of Miracles which the Franciscan Arnaud de Serranne, provincial of Aquitaine in the 14th century, included in his Chronicles of the beginning of the Order of Friars Minor, and from which are drawn these Fioretti. This widespread work was the main inspiration for the iconography of St. Anthony, of which a few examples highlight this book. As for the wonders themselves related here, if they appeal to a sensitivity different from ours, nonetheless they are proof of a candor, of a poetry and sincerity that have preserved a moving freshness.