Saint Martha, Worried About Many Things

+Cornelis Engebrechtsz, Christ in the House of Martha

and Mary

Dutch, c. 1515

Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum

July 29 is the feast day of Saints Mary, Martha and Lazarus, the brother and sisters who were friends of Jesus. Mary is sometimes equated with Saint Mary Magdalene and Lazarus, their brother, figures prominently in the story of Jesus raising him from the dead.  But Martha is seemingly the least well-known of the three. 

She is mentioned twice in the New Testament but, in spite of the fact that one of the greatest of the “I AM” statements of Jesus concerning Himself is addressed to her, she has largely been remembered for the other time He addressed her. Poor Martha, she has received, as the saying goes “a bum rap”, especially when it comes to the visual record.

Martha is, of course, one of the sisters of Lazarus who lived in Bethany, outside Jerusalem. She appears in the Gospel of Luke in the story of Jesus' visit to her house.   One can imagine how daunting this could be for the owner family, to have a famous man and his disciples arrive, needing to provide water to wash and food and drink for the guests.  It would have been a case of "all hands on deck".  However, instead of helping with the hostess work her sister, Mary, sits at Jesus’ feet, listening to him. Then,
"Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
"Lord, do you not care
that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me."
The Lord said to her in reply,
"Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her." (Luke 10:38-42)

So, Martha has come down to us as the woman who was reprimanded by Jesus for paying too much attention to the details and chores of daily living. She is often seen as the representative of the “active” life, as opposed to her sister, Mary (sometimes identified with Mary Magdalene), who represents the “contemplative” life. As the contemplative life was usually considered to be the higher calling, Mary appears to be the favored one.

But Martha also appears in another episode from the Gospel of John, where she beseeches Jesus to do something about the death of her brother, Lazarus.
"When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus,
"Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you."
Jesus said to her,
"Your brother will rise."
Martha said to him,
"I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day."
Jesus told her,
"I am the resurrection and the life;
whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,
and anyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?"
She said to him, "Yes, Lord.
I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God,
the one who is coming into the world." (John 11:20-27)

So, it is Martha, the active one, who, along with Peter, declares and confesses who Jesus actually is.

However, it is the first of these two readings that has primarily been portrayed artistically. Images of Christ in the house of Martha and Mary have been painted many times, primarily during the seventeenth century. Examples abound from both the Protestant and Catholic countries.

+Tintoretto, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Italian,  c. 1570-1575
Munich, Bayerische Stratagemäldesammlungen, Alte Pinakothek

+Ambrosius Francken, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
From Thesaurus Novi Testamenti elegantissimis iconibus express continens historias atque miracula domini nostri Jesu Christe
Flemish, 1580
London, Trustees of the British Museum

+Alessandro Allori, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Italian, 1605
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

+Gerard Seghers, Jesus in the House of Martha and Mary
Flemish, c. 1620
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

+Peter Paul Rubens and Jan Brueghel the Younger, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Flemish, c. 1628
Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland

+Johannes Vermeer, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Dutch, c. 1654-1656
Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery

+Jean Jouvenet, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

French, c. 1688

Paris, Musée du Louvre

+James Tissot, Christ in the House of Mary and Martha at Bethany
French, c. 1886-1894
New York, Brooklyn Museum

One feature of some of these images is the concentration on an abundance of food, even a slightly chaotic abundance, often relegating the scene of Jesus with Mary and Martha to the distant background.  Indeed, some painters made this idea one of their favorites.

+Joachim Beuckelaer, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary

Flemish, c. 1565

Brusssels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts

+Joachim Beuckelaer, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Flemish, 1568
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

+Vincenzo Campi, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Italian, late 16th century
Modena, Galleria Estense

                                   

Presumably the image of a woman concerned with being a hostess and seeing that everything was “perfect” for her guest led the painters to present their own ideas about what a successful visit would look like.

+Diego Velazquez, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Spanish, c. 1620
London, National Gallery

But, of course, there is also a deeper meaning. These displays of abundance are also a reminder of the bounty of the world and a foretaste of the bounty to be expected in the heavenly kingdom.

+Pieter de Bloot, Christ in the House of Martha and Mary
Dutch, 1637
Vienna, Leichtentstein Museum

                                                                

By contrast, very few images of the Raising of Lazarus include Martha’s special part in the story. In most images the two sisters are shown as prayerful onlookers at the miracle, as Lazarus emerges from the tomb.

+Giotto, The Raising of Lazarus
Italian, c. 1304-1306
Padua, Arena/Scrovegni Chapel

+Giotto, The Raising of Lazarus
Italian, c. 1320s
Assisi, Basilica of San Francesco, Lower Church

 I was only able to find one image that specifically refers to Martha’s action. The late fifteenth-century painter, Nicolas Froment, depicts Martha’s plea before the actual raising in the left panel of his triptych of the Raising of Lazarus now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. 

+Nicolas Froment, The Raising of Lazarus Triptych
French, 1461
Florence, Uffizi Gallery

Clearly, it is the raising of Lazarus itself that is meant to recall the words of Jesus “I am the resurrection and the life”, not the scene in which Martha’s words elicit this great statement.

But it is comforting to know that it is Martha, the one who, because she is “anxious and worried about many things” and thus is most like the majority of us, is also the one who is able to confess “I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world”.  She is our representative.

© M. Duffy, 2011.  Images refreshed 2024.

+ Indicates refreshed image.

Glorious Saint Anne – Iconography of Saint Anne, Day 7 – Saint Anne, Grandmother

Charles LeBrun, The Sleeping Infant Jesus or Silence
French, 1655
Paris, Musée du Louvre

Today, when they think of Saint Anne, the image that occurs to most 21st-century people is that of mother and grandmother, a kindly figure depicted with her daughter or as an addition to the familiar Holy Family group. But, as we have seen this was not always the case, especially in Northern Europe.

How the figure of Saint Anne evolved from the huge and powerful Saint Anne of the Anna selbdritt to the grandmotherly figure of the 17th and later centuries may be followed fairly well from surviving paintings and statues.



In her book, Mary’s Mother: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Europe Virginia Nixon distinguishes two different types of the Anna selbdritt. The first, in which Anne encompasses both the figures of Mary and Jesus we have already looked at. The second type, which Prof. Nixon calls the “bench type” shows Anne and Mary seated together on the same level, as if on a bench. 1  Jesus is sometimes shown as seated or held by Mary, sometimes by Anne, and sometimes He appears between them. Some examples are shown below:


Master of the Beaufort Saints, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
Prayers added to the Beaufort-Beauchamp Hours
English (London), c. 1401-1415
London, British Library,
MS Royal 2A XVIII, fol.13v 

Master of the Gold Scrolls, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
From a Book of Hours
South Netherlands, c. 1425-1450
London, British Library
MS Harley 2846, fol. 40v

Nicholas Gerhaert van Leyden, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
German, c. 1475-1495
Berlin, Bode Museum

Master of the Housebook, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
German, c. 1490
Oklenburg, Landesmuseum

Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
Flemish, Carved Walnut, Early 16th Century
Sold at Christie's, Amsterdam March 22-23, 2011

From these and other examples, especially those which show an interaction between Child and Grandmother, the later images of Saint Anne develop. In addition, the image of Anne herself began to change. She began to age so that, from the vigorous maturity of her image in the late 15th century, by 1600 she had become an elderly woman.  

Cornelis Engelbrechtsz, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
Dutch, c. 1500
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatliches Museen zu Berlin



Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
Miniature added to a Book of Hours
Dutch, c. 1500-1550
London, British Library
MS Harley 2896, fol. 14r

Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
From a Book of Hours
South Netherlands (Bruges), c. 1500
London, British LIbrary
MS King's 9, fol.53v

Andrea Sansovino, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
Italian, 1512
Rome, Church of Sant'Agostino

She also began to move from a primary role to a secondary one. In many instances the key position that she held around 1500 had become, by the beginning of the next century, a subsidiary one. From the forefront of the picture, she began to move to the side or to the background.  

El Greco, Holy Family with Saint Anne
Greco-Spanish, c. 1595
Toledo, Hospital Tavera

Bronzino, Holy Family with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist

Italian, c. 1534-1540

Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

During that same time her former position was assumed by the figure of Saint Joseph. Joseph, who up to that time had been presented (when presented at all) in the subordinate role, begins to move forward and to grow younger as Anne recedes and grows older. 

Rubens, Holy Family with Saint Anne
Flemish, c. 1630
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Jusepe de Ribera, Holy Family with Saint Anne and Saint Catherine of Alexandria
Spanish, 1649
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sebastian Bourdon, Holy Family with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist
French, c. 1650
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

By the end of the 17th century the Holy Family as we now think of it, comprising Jesus, Mary and Joseph, had taken form.

Murillo, The Two Trinities
Spanish, c. 1675-1682
London, National Gallery

The more recent images of Saint Anne show her solely in her role as mother, accompanied only by Mary. 

Saint Anne
 Quebec, Shrine of Sainte Anne de Beaupre, Chapel of Saint Anne

Saint Anne
20th Century
New York, Church of Saint Jean Baptiste

Although, in some ways, this seems a stripping of her former mystique in others it brings us back full circle to the Saint Anne images of the 14th and 15th centuries, for Mary, her daughter, is the Mother of the Word Incarnate.


___________________________
1. Virginia Nixon. Mary’s Mother: Saint Anne in Late Medieval Europe, University Park, PA, The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004, p. 137.

© M. Duffy, 2011/2012.  Images refreshed, 2022.







Glorious Saint Anne – Iconography of Saint Anne, Day 5 – Saint Anne as Teacher

Claus de Werve, The Virgin and Child
Dutch, c. 1415-1417
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of the most familiar images of Saint Anne is as Mary's teacher.  In spite of writings such as the Golden Legend and the tradition based on them, i.e., that Mary spent the years between age 3 and puberty in the temple, there is an equally strong tradition that she spent those years at home, under the instruction of her mother.

From at least the 14th century artists have shown Saint Anne as the teacher of her daughter. That it should be thought necessary that Mary should be literate is interesting in itself. The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus read from the Book of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-17). Therefore, it is apparently assumed that Mary can read also. Indeed, she is frequently pictured as teaching the Infant Jesus to read in many works of medieval arts, such as a lovely early 15th-century statue in the Metropolitan Museum collection. If Mary can read, then it is a logical assumption that she was taught to read by her own mother, Saint Anne.



So far, the earliest images of Saint Anne as teacher appear to come from 14th-Century England. Due to the destruction of most English religious art during the Reformation and the later Republican period, the surviving images are few and frequently in bad shape. However, a number of wall paintings have emerged from the layers of whitewash and plaster that covered them and there are occasional survivals elsewhere. For example, the Cluny Museum in Paris owns a painted wooden altar frontal from the parish church of Thetford in Suffolk that is dated to about 1335.

Anonymous, The Education of the Virgin
English, c. 1335
Paris, Musée de Cluny, Musée nationale du moyen age



Through the medium of illuminated manuscripts the image of Saint Anne as teacher spread to the Continent. It is found in manuscripts from France and Spain and from the Low Countries, as well as in sculpture. 

Master of the Breviary of John the Fearless, Egerton Master and others, The Education of the Virgin
From the Breviary of John the Fearless and  Margaret of Bavaria
French (Paris), c. 1410-1419
London, British Library
MS Harley 2897, fol. 340v

The Education of the Virgin
Spanish, 15th century
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Jean Bourdichon, The Education of the Virgin
From the Prayer Book of Anne of Brittany
French (Tours), c. 1492-1495
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M 50, fol. 13r

Jean Poyer, The Education of the Virgin
From the Hours of Henry VIII
France(Tours), ca. 1500
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS H 8, fol 186v

In panel and oil paintings it seems to appear later. Among the most important images are:

Peter Paul Rubens The Education of the Virgin of 1625-1626.  Rubens painting influenced many later artists (not included here). On a classically balustraded terrace a charming Mary looks up as if interrupted in her lessons by the appearance of the viewer. Joachim looks on from the left and cherubs circle overhead, bearing a crown of roses.

Peter Paul Rubens, The Education of the Virgin
Flemish, c. 1625-1626
Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts

                                             

Georges de la Tour set the scene between Anne and Mary by candlelight in order to play over the smooth surfaces of the figures and their clothing. The resulting image has a kind of grand solemnity.

Georges de La Tour, The Education of the Virgin
French, c. 1650
New York, Frick Collection

Jean Jouvenet interpreted the event as a pious scene in which the middle-aged Anne instructs a prayerful Mary, watched over by Joachim and surrounded by other young women who are engaged in needlework, while angels pay close attention.

Jean Jouvenet, The Education of the Virgin
French, 1700
Florence, Galleria degli Ufizzi

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo interweaves the earthly scene of education into a heavenly one as multiple angels float in on clouds.

Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Education of the Virgin
Italian, 1732
Venice, Church of Santa Maria della Consolazione

Near the end of the 18th century, Jean-Honore Fragonard presented a sweetly peaceful earthly scene in which Mary snuggles up to her mother, as she turns from her book.

Jean-Honore Fragonard, The Education of the Virgin
French, 1775
Amiens, Musée de Picardie

There is also a less well-known tradition in painting in which Mary’s education consists, not in learning to read, but in learning to work with the needle or the shuttle. The support for this comes from a portion of the Protoevangelion of James 1 in which Mary is chosen to participate in weaving a new veil for the sanctuary of the temple.

In this tradition St. Anne is also the teacher. However, the number of works appears to be much fewer than the more frequently represented education in reading.

In this fragment of fresco attributed to the Master of the Bambino Vispo, Saint Anne appears to be teaching Mary about sewing.

Master of the Bambino Vispo, The Education of the Virgin
Italian, 1420s
Florance, Church of Santa Croce

The wing of a diptych by Lucas Cranach in which Anne is shown instructing Mary in weaving. Mary is seated at Anne’s feet working on a small loom.  Tiny cherub angels are seen inserting themselves into the action.

Lucas Cranach, The Education of the Virgin
German, c. 1510-1512
Dessau, Althältisches Gemäldegalerie

 

A painting by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rosetti, shows a domestic scene in which a very Victorian Mary sits in a veranda with her mother, who is instructing her in embroidery, while Saint Joachim trims some vines.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, The Girlhood of Mary
English, 1848-1849
London, Tate Gallery

  
The scene is so ordinary in appearance that Rosetti added some clues to assist us in interpreting it correctly. He has added an attendant angel, a pot of lilies, martyr’s palms, and a dove in a mandorla that is obviously a reference to the Holy Spirit.


An alternate view of this period of Mary's childhood is given by the 17th-century Spanish painter, Francisco de Zurbaran.  Here Mary appears to work alone at her needlework in a prayerful attitude.  But, perhaps we are meant to assume the unseen presence of her mother, standing beside us as we observe the holy child at work and prayer.

Francisco de Zurbaran, The Young Virgin
Spanish, c. 1632-1633
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

____________________________________________
1. Protoevangelion of James. Translated by Alexander Walker. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 8. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. @ http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0847.htm

© M. Duffy, 2011/2012