Antique devotional card Saint Anthony of Padua - chromolithograph with deckled edge, ca. 1900

Antique devotional card of Saint Anthony of Padua with the Christ Child, executed as a chromolithograph on linen-textured paper with a deckled edge. The illustration shows the saint in Franciscan habit, holding the child in his arms, surrounded by a gold-printed Gothic frame with a floral motif in blue and green. The Latin caption reads: "S. Antonius de Padua. O Deus, ego amo te." The card bears the number 257 and a small publisher's rosette at lower left. The reverse is blank.

Devotional cards with deckled edges and linen texture are characteristic of chromolithographic production from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, produced primarily in Belgian, French and German workshops. The deckled edge technique — machine-punched — was a standard element that gave the cards an elegant, textile-like character. The card is in good condition with light yellowing and a small mark to the right; the colours have remained vivid.