New Mexican Bulto of San Antonio (Saint Anthony), circa 1825

New Mexican carved and painted wood bulto depicting San Antonio, or Saint Anthony of Padua, circa 1825. He is shown in the traditional Franciscan habit holding the Christ Child and a flower.
Saint Anthony was a 13th-century Franciscan friar renowned for his preaching and for the many miracles attributed to him. After Saint Francis, he became one of the most widely venerated saints of the Franciscan order. In devotional imagery, Saint Anthony is commonly represented holding the Christ Child, recalling a vision in which the infant Jesus is said to have appeared to him. He may also be shown with a book or lily, symbols associated with scripture, purity, and religious devotion.
In New Mexican Catholic tradition, San Antonio was invoked for both spiritual and worldly assistance, particularly in finding lost objects, marriage and fertility, healing, and recovery from illness. Dating to approximately 1825, this bulto reflects the early 19th-century tradition of Hispanic devotional woodcarving in New Mexico, where santos were created for churches, family chapels, and private domestic devotion.