![Andrea Sacchi - Saints Anthony Abbot and Francis of Assisi [before 1627]](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7331/16439134376_2be057292a_o.jpg)
Saint Anthony reads a book and holds his tau-shaped cross; Saint Francis crosses his hands before him, showing his stigmata, and looks heavenwards. This work, and its companion picture Saints Andrew and Thomas by Bernini, are both recorded in a 1692 inventory of the Barberini collection, Rome. Andrea Sacchi was born in Nettuno in 1599 or 1600. From 1621 he worked chiefly in Rome, and is recorded as living there in 1624 with his father, Benedetto, also a painter. In Rome his major patron was Cardinal Antonio Barberini. In the late 1630s he travelled in Northern Italy. In 1640 he visited Paris, but this was not a success. He died in Rome in 1661.
[National Gallery, London - Oil on canvas, 61 x 78 cm]