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| Willem Vrelant, Anna selbdritt from a Book of Hours Flemish, ca. 1460 The Hague, Koninjlijk Bibliothek MS 76F7, fol. 25v (detail) |
Three years ago I wrote extensively about the iconography of Saint Anne, mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus (see here for listing of the articles). At the time, the iconographic image that was most of a revelation to me was that known as the Anna Selbdritt. Although a few of these images were very well known, the fact that it was a recognizable iconographic type was not well known. Therefore, the few images that I was able to find at the time were nearly all new to me.
In anticipation of the 122nd annual novena in
honor of St. Anne that has taken place in my parish every July since 1892 I
decided to search for some additional images of St. Anne to add to those that
appeared in my blog postings of three years ago. In the search I discovered many, many more
Anna Selbdritt images, most dating to the period in which devotion to Saint Anne
was very popular (approximately the late 15th through mid-sixteenth
centuries), but some of more recent date.
Nearly all come from northern European countries.
Some belong to the tradition of seated figures: Jesus seated on Mary, who herself sits on the lap of Anne or at her feet.
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| Anonymous, Anna Selbdritt North German, 1307 Stralsund, St. Nicholas Church (the statue was seriously damaged during the Reformation |
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| Fra Bartolomeo, Drawing for Saint Anne Altarpiece Italian, ca. 1510 Florence, San Marco Museum |
Others belong to what is known as the "bench type" or the side-by-side tradition, where Anne and Mary, holding the infant Jesus, sit side by side.
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| Anna Selbdritt with Donor, Victor of Carben German, early 15th Century Cologne, Cathedral of Saint Peter |
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| Master of the Mansi Magdalen, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne Netherlands, ca. 1515-1525 Remagen, Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck On loan from Rau Collection for UNICEF |
Some take a variant view in which a seated Anne holds Jesus, while a sometimes child-sized Mary stands beside her.
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| Anna Selbdritt German (Franconia), ca. 1480 New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Cloisters Collection |
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| Wilhelm Mengelberg, Anna Selbdritt German, 1908 Cologne, Basilica of the Holy Apostles This early 20th century image shows that the tradition has continued for a very long time. |
Others belong to the tradition in which an outsized Anne holds a small Mary and an even smaller Jesus.
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| Madonna and Child with Saint Anne Spanish, 1270-1290 Budapest, National Museum of Fine Arts |
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| Madonna and Child with Saint Anne German, 1400-1450 Minden, Cathedral Treasury |
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| Madonna and Child with Saint Anne German, late 15th Century Speyer, Cathedral Museum of the Palatinate |
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| Madonna and Child with Saint Anne German, early 16th Century Aachen, Sürmondt-Ludwig Museum |
These images, coming from many locations, over a number of centuries, prove how much and how deeply St. Anne was revered in the Middle Ages, into the Renaissance and beyond.
There is one further image that is quite charming and comes from the eighteenth century in Austria. It's not high art, but it is a charming continuation of the tradition.
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| Madonna and Child with Saint Anne Austria, 18th Century Graz, Joanneum Museum |
© M. Duffy, 2014
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