Friday, July 26, 2019

2019 Saint Anne Update

Saints Anne and Joachim
American, 17th or 18th Century
New York, Brooklyn Museum
July 26th is the feast day of Saints Anne and Joachim, the parents of the Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus. They, especially St. Anne, have been important saints for most of the life of the Church and are frequently featured in Christian art. 

Over the last eight years, since my first post in 2011, I have added various images of Saints Anne and Joachim. The number keeps growing because, as the internet has become a more widely available tool, the number of museums and libraries that make their collections available online keeps growing. Further, museums and libraries that made their collections available several years ago continue to release more material from their holdings and to upgrade the quality of those they had already shared as they continue to enhance their online presence. Since Anne and Joachim have been important for so long, we are still only seeing the tip of the iceberg of images that probably exist.

Each year I propose to continue to add to the collection of images available through this blog as new ones become accessible. I will link these images with the essays about their iconological type which I did in 2011.  Just click on the section headings to be linked to the essays.

In addition, in each of these last two years I have identified new subjects within the general "Saints Anne and Joachim" theme.  Two years ago, for example, I came across several images that fit into a new category that I called "Parental Love". Like pictures that imagine the life of Jesus as a boy in His home in Nazareth, these images imagine the relationship between Mary, as a little girl, and her parents. 

Last year I encountered pictures that I called "Mystical Reflections".  These differ from earlier images of Mary with her parents in that Mary is presented as the woman of the Apocalypse, the Immaculate Conception instead of as a little girl (even a little girl attended by angels).  Both the pictures belong to the later part of the Counter-Reformation era, in the late 17th to mid-18th centuries.  This year I have come across more of them.  

Indeed, this year I found so many new images that I am overwhelmed.  Consequently, I have chosen a selection of these "new" images and will save the remainder for future years.  In particular, I found an interesting altarpiece which I will post all by itself at a future date.  

So, now I present the 2019 additions to the iconography of St. Anne. Each section heading is also a link to the original article which explains the iconography. Click on the section headings to learn more.


Announcing Mary's Birth


Annunciation to Saints Joachim and Anne
From Pelerinage de Jesus-Christ by Guillaume de Digulleville
French (Rennes), c. 1425-1450
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 376, fol. 165v



Attributed to PIeter Franszoon de Grebber, The Angel Appearing to Saint Anne
Dutch, c. 1625-1650
Birmingham (UK), The Barber Institure of Fine Arts


The Meeting at the Golden Gate


Master of the Roman de Fauvel, Annunciation to Joachim and the Meeting at the Golden Gate
From Speculum historiale by Vincent of Beauvais
French (Paris), c.. 1333-1334
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 316, fol. 291


The Meeting at the Golden Gate (with Annunciation to Joachim in the far background)
From Hours of Louis of Savoy
French (Savoy), c. 1445-1450 & 1460
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 9473, fol. 187v



Jean Hey (Master of Moulins), The Meeting  at Golden Gate
From a Triptych
French, c. 1491-1494
London, National Gallery


Ambrosius Benson, The Meeting Before the Golden Gate
Flemish, c. 1528
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado



The Birth of Mary


Birth of the Virgin Mary
From The Stammheim Missal
German (Hildesheim), c. 1170-1180
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum
MS 64, fol. 148v



Attr Jacopino da Reggio, Birth of the Virgin Mary
From a Psalter
Italian (Bologna), End of 13th Century
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Smith-Lesouef 21, fol. 13v



Richard de Montbaston, Birth of the Virgin Mary
From Legenda aurea by Jacques de Voragine
French (Paris), 1348
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 241, fol. 236v


Giovanni di Benedetto and Workshop, Birth of the Virgin Mary
From a Missal
Italian (Milan), c. 1385-1390
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 757, fol. 351v


Master of the Osservanza, Birth of the Virgin Mary
Italian, c. 1440
London, National Gallery

Birth of the Virgin Mary
German, c. 1480
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection
This unusual depiction of the subject, as a sculpture group, is the survivor of a larger altarpiece dedicated to Saint Anne.  


Ambrosius Benson, Birth of the Virgin Mary
Flemish, c. 1528
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado


Presentation of Mary in the Temple


Presentation of Mary
From Meditationes vitae Christi
Italian (Sienna), c. 1330-1340
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Italien 115, fol. 6r


Presentation of Mary
From a Book of Hours
Spanish, 17th Century
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 10565, fol. 7r




Saint Anne as Teacher


Workshop of Master of the Rouen Echevinage, Education of the Virgin with Saint John the Baptist and Two Female Donors
From a Book of Hours
French (Rouen), c. 1475-1485
NY, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS M131, fol. 45r


Guillaume Le Rouge, Education of the Virgin
From a Printed Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1510
Cleveland, Museum of Art
MS 2009.276, fol. 108v


Adam Elsheimer, Education of the Virgin
German, 1605
Petworth, West Sussex (UK), National Trust, Petworth House

Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Saint Anne Teaching the Virgin to Read
Spanish, c. 1655
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Johann Evangelist Scheffer von Leonharshoff, Education of the Virgin
German, c. 1816-1820
Berlin, Naationalgalerie der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin


Saint Anne, the Virgin and the Christ Child
Spanish, 14th Century
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Anna Selbdritt
Flemish, 15th Century
Oxford, The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology

Private Devotional Shrine
German, c. 1490
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection

Anna Selbdritt
Flemish, c. 1500
Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery

Gerolamo dai Libri, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne (Anna Selbdritt)
Center of a Triptych
Italian, c. 1510-1518
London, National Gallery

Endras Maurus, Anna Selbdritt
Austrian, c. 1530-1535
Vienna, Belvedere Museum

Juan Ramirez de Arellano, Saint Anne, the Virgin and the Christ Child
Spanish, c. 1760-1770
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Saint Anne, Grandmother



Jean le Tavernier, Philippe le Bon Praying to Saint Anne, the Virgin and Christ Child
From Miracles de Notre Dame by Jean Mielot
Flemish (Oudenarde), 1456
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 9198, fol. 1

Master of Alkmaar, Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
Dutch, c. 1500
Bristol (UK), Bristol Museum and Art Gallery

Albrecht Altdorfer, The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne at the Cradle
German, c. 1510-1525
Chicago, Art Institute


Jan Willens de Cock, Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child
Flemish, c. 1510-1520
Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado

Hans Holbein the Elder, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
German, 1512
Augsburg, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen-Staats galerie in der  Katarinenkirche Augsburg


Master of Heiligenblut, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
South Tyrol, c. 1520
Vienna, Belvedere Museum

El Greco, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
Greco-Spanish, c. 1600-1610
Hartford, Wadsworth Atheneum


Saint Anne, Matriarch of the Holy Kindred



The Holy Kindred
German, 1473
Soest, Evangelical Parish Church of St. Mary

Master of Edward IV, The Holy Kindred with a Monk Donor
From a Book of Hours
Dutch (Utrecht), c. 1495-1505
New York, Pierpont Morgan Library
MS G 5, fol. 97v

Master of Holy Kinship, The Holy Kinship
German. 1505-1510
Cologne, Wallraf-Richertz Museum and Fondation Courbaud

Hans Thoman, Holy Kindred
German, c. 1515
Berlin, Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst


Saint Anne in the Communion of Saints


Francesco Francia, The Buonvisi Altarpiece
Italian, c. 1510-1512
London, National Gallery

Mystical Reflections


Jean Bourdichon, Madonna and Child with Saints Joachim and Anne
From Grandes heures d'Anne de Bretagne
French (Tours), c. 1503-1508
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de Paris
MS Latin 9474, fol. 218v

Madonna and Child with Saints Joachim and Anne
Flemish, c. 1520
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie der Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Giuseppe Salerno, Holy Family with Saints Anne and Joachim
Italian, 1607
Petralia Sottana, Church of San Francesco

Gaspar de Crayer, The Teenage Mary Adorned by Angels in the Presence of Saints Joachim and Anne
Flemish, c. 1650
Brussels, Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium

Lorenzo Mattielli, Madonna and Child Adored by Saints Joachim and Anne
Italian, 1736
Vienna, Belvedere Museum

Mano Poderosa or Las Cinco Personas
Mexican, 19th Century
New York, Brooklyn Museum

If you are in the New York City area, please join in celebrating the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne and the closing of the 136th novena at the Shrine of Saint Anne in the Church of Saint Jean Baptiste on the Upper East Side of Manhattan (Lexington Avenue at East 76th Street).  Note that in 2020, due to COVID-19 the novena will be drastically shortened and condensed.  Please see the parish website for information (www.sjbny.org)



Novena Prayer to Saint Anne

"O glorious St. Ann, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care.

Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen."

Luca Vescia, St. Anne and Mary
Italian, 1911
New York, St. Jean Baptiste Church, 
Shrine of St. Anne

© M. Duffy, 2019

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