Saints Anne and Joachim American, 17th or 18th Century New York, Brooklyn Museum |
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
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 |
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."