St Anthony by Albrecht Dürer

Dürer's Netherlands Sketchbook includes pages that juxtapose cityscape and portrait to create a very strong sense of character, as if each sitter is saying, "This is me and here I am." St Anthony improves on that by putting the subject in front of the cityscape, in a posture that duplicates the shape of the hill town behind him, creating a micro/macro relationship. Despite its intricate solidity, the city is like a thought or emanation of the saint. There might be 1200 years between the foreground and background, but the time feels like a quiet afternoon.