2022 Saint Anne Update

 

Master of the Ango Hours, Saints Anne and Joachim
with a Donor
From a Prayer Book
French (Rouen), c. 1515-1525
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 83, fol. 18v

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

Annually, over the last decade 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 in the earliest years 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 have continued to add to the collection of images available through this blog as new ones become accessible. I 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 the last several years I have identified new subjects within the general "Saints Anne and Joachim" theme.  For example, five years ago 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. 

This year I am adding two new categories.  I call one, "The Story of Salvation" because it consists of all the apochryphal stories about Mary's birth and childhood as small images set around an image of the Annunciation.  The other I call "The Death of Saint Anne" because that is what the images depict.

For the third year in a row I have found so many new images that I am overwhelmed.  Consequently, I have chosen to include only a selection of these "new" images and will save the remainder for future years.  

So, now I present the 2022 additions to the iconography of Saint Anne. Each section heading is also a link to the original article which explains the iconography. Click on the section headings to learn more.

Please note that, due to personal health issues, there was no 2021 update.

Annunciation of Mary's Birth

Annunciation of the Birth of Mary to Saint Anne
From Vies de la Vierge et du Christ
Italian (Naples), c. 1350
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 9561, fol. 115r

Annunciation of the Birth of Mary to Saint Joachim
From Vies de la Vierge et du Christ
Italian (Naples), c. 1350
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 9561, fol. 116v

Master of the Livre du Sacre of Charles V and Workshop, Annunciation of the Birth of Mary to Saints Anne and Joachim
From Speculum humanae salvationis
French (Paris), c. 1370-1380
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition francaise 15940, fol. 18v

Jacquemart de Hesdin and Workshop, Annunciation of the Birth of Mary to Saints Joachim and Anne
From Grandes heures de Jean de Berry
French (Paris), 1409
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 919, fol. 18r

Jacquemart de Hesdin and Workshop, Joachim's Offering Refused
From Grandes heures de Jean de Berry
French (Paris), 1409
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 919, fol. 8r

Annunciation of the Birth of Mary to Saints Anne and Joachim
From Speculum humanae salvationis
German (Cologne), c. 1450
The Hague, Meermano Museum
MS RMMW 10 B 34, fol. 3v

Jean le Tavernier, Annunciation of the Birth of Mary to Saint Joachim and Meeting at the Golden Gate
From Miracles de Notre Dame by Jean Mielot
Flemish (Oudenarde), 1456
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 9198, fol. 3v

Meeting at the Golden Gate

Master Henri, Saints Anne and Joachim
From Livre d'Images de Madame Marie
Flemish (Hainault), c. 1285-1290
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition francaise 16251, fol. 18v

Meeting at the Golden Gate
From Vies de la Vierge et du Christ
Italian (Naples), c. 1350
Paris, BNF
MS Francais 9561, fol. 117r

Jacquemart de Hesdin and Workshop, Meeting at the Golden Gate
From Grandes heures de Jean de Berry
French (Paris), 1409
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 919, fol. 24r

Jean Dreux and Others, Meeting at the Golden Gate (with the Annunciation of Mary's Birth to Saint Joachim in the background)
From Compendium historiae universalis
Flemish, c. 1450-1460
The Hague, Meermano Museum
MS MMW 10 A 21, fol. 66r

Saints Joachim and Anne Meeting at the Golden Gate
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1490
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek
MS KB 76 F 17, fol. 111r

The Birth of Mary

Petrus de Raimbaucourt, Infant Mary
From a Missal
French (Amiens), 1323
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek
MS KB 78 D 40, fol. 109r

Birth of Mary
From Vies de la Vierge et du Christ
Italian (Naples), c. 1350
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 9561, fol. 118v

Master of the Livre du Sacre of Charles V and Workshop, Birth and Presentation of Mary
From Speculum humanae salvationis
French (Paris), c. 1370-1380
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition francaise 15940, fol. 18v

Jacquemart de Hesdin and Workshop, Birth of the Virgin
From Grandes heures de Jean de Berry
French (Paris), 1409
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 919, fol. 28

Birth of the Virgin
From Speculum humanae salvationis
German (Cologne), c. 1450
The Hague, Meermano Museum
MS RMMW 10 B 34, fol. 4v

Master of Edward IV, Birth of the Virgin
From Speculum humanae salvationis
Flemish (Bruges), c. 1485
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 6275, fol. 5v

Birth of Mary
From a Prayer Book
Flemish (Antwerp). c. 1525
The Hague, Meermano Museum
MS RMMW 10 E 4, fol. 85r

Presentation of Mary in the Temple

Presentation of the Virgin
From Vies de la Vierge et du Christ
Italian (Naples), c. 1350
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 9561, fol. 119

Master of the Livre du Sacre of Charles V and Workshop, Birth and Presentation of Mary
From Speculum humanae salvationis
French (Paris), c. 1370-1380
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition francaise 15940, fol. 18v

Niccolo di Buonaccorso, Presentation of the Virgin
Italian, 1380
Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi

Pseudo-Jacquemart, Presentation of the Virgin
From the Petites heures of Jean de Berry
French (Bourges), c. 1385-1390
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 18014, fol. 142v

Presentation of the Virgin
From the Breviary of Martin of Aragon
Spanish (Catalan), c. 1398-1430
Paris, Bibliotheque national de France
MS Rothschild 2529, fol. 312r

Jacquemart de Hesdin and Workshop, Presentation of the Virgin
From Grandes heures de Jean de Berry
French (Paris), 1409
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 919, fol. 31r

Master of Edward IV, Presentation of the Virgin
From Speculum humanae salvationis
Flemish (Bruges), c. 1485
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 6275, fol. 6v

Saint Anne as Teacher, the Education of the Virgin

The Education of the Virgin
From a Book of Litanies
English, c. 1350-1400
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Francais 400, fol. 38v

The Education of the Virgin
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), 15th Century
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS NAL 3115, fol. 187r

Workshop of the Bedford Master, Saint Anne and the Virgin as a Child
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris)m c, 1440-1450
Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum
MS Ludwig IX 6, fol. 223v

Anonymous Bolognese Artist, The Education of the Virgin
Italian, 17th Century
London, Royal Collection Trust

Jacques Callot, The Education of the Virgin, July 26
From Les Images de Tous les Saincts et Saintes de l'Annee
French, 1636
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Saint Anne, the Root of the Tree of Salvation, Anna Selbdritt

Anna Selbdritt
From Hours of Louis of Savoy
French (Savoy), c. 1445-1460
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 9473, fol. 182v

Anna Selbdritt
German, c. 1475-1500
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Glass Roundel of Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child
Flemish, c. 1480-1500
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection

Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child
German, c. 1520
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Marcantonio Raimondi, Anna Selbdritt
Italian, c. 1520
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lorenzo Lotto, Holy Family with Saint Jerome
Italian, 1534
Florence, Gallerie degli Uffizi

Glass panel with the Arms of Pierre Babenberg with Anna Selbdritt amd Saint Joachim
German, 1540
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Objets d'art du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes

Attributed to Santi Bugioni, Anna Selbdritt with Saints Anthony Abbot and Anthony of Padua
Italian, c. 1550
Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Sculptures du Moyen Age, de la Renaissance et des temps modernes

Godfried Schalken, Holy Family with Saint Anne and an Angel
Dutch, c. 1680-1685
Paris, Musée du Louvre

Saint Anne as a Grandmother

Lucas Cranach the Elder, Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child
German, Early 16th Century
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Albrecht Duerer, Saint Anne with the Virgin and the Infant Christ
German, c. 1500
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Lucas van Leyden, Madonna and Child with Saint Anne
Dutch, 1516
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Workshop of Albert Cornelis, Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
Flemish, c. 1520
London, National Gallery

Saint Anne as Matriarch of the Holy Kindred

Shrine of Saint Anne and the Holy Kinship
Flemish, Late 15th Century
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters Collection

Israhel van Mechkenem, Holy Family with Saints Anne and Joachim
German, Late 15th Century
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Parental Love

Jacquemart de Hesdin and Workshop, The Young Mary with her Parents
From Grandes heures de Jean de Berry
French (Paris), 1409
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 919, fol. 37r

Giuliano Traballesi, The Young Virgin Mary with Her Parents, Saints Anne and Joachim
Italian, c. 1760-1800
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Story of Salvation

This subject is included for the first time this year.  These images all focus on the subject of the Annunciation of the potential birth of Jesus made by Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, which will be accomplished by her consent.  This act constitutes the Incarnation, the first action in the salvation of the world.  Thus it is part of the history of Jesus, as well as part of the history of Mary, his mother.  It is the cause for which Mary is exalted, the beginning of theological speculation about her antecedents, that culminates in the later Marian dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and Assumption and goes far beyond the fanciful speculations of the Proto Evangelion that gave us the charming stories and vignettes associated with Saints Anne and Joachim.  It forms a sort of bridging moment between those tales and the words of the New Testament.  

The images I found this year that acknowledge this bridge all center on the moment of the Annunciation, but they include, as a sort of frame, smaller images taken from the Proto-Evangelion.  I am including three here.  Of these, all three include the image of the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple and the Marriage of the Virgin (a story from the Proto-Evangelion that does not include Saint Anne), two include the story of the birth of Mary, two include the Meeting at the Golden Gate and one squeezes in the Annunciation of the Birth of the Virgin to Saint Joachim.

Annunciation with Scenes from the Lives of Saints Anne and Joachim
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris), c. 1450-1475
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Latin 1175, fol. 21

Annunciation with Scenes from the Lives of Saints Anne and Joachim
From a Book of Hours
French (Rouen), c. 1450-1500
Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France
MS Nouvelle acquisition latine 3134, fol. 25r

Annunciation with a Donor with Scenes from the Lives of Saints Anne and Joachim
From a Book of Hours
French (Paris Probably), c. 1490-1500
The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek
MS KB 76 F 14, fol. 19r

The Death of Saint Anne

This subject is one I discovered for the first time this year.  It depicts Saint Anne, in old age and on her deathbed, being visited by her daughter who has brought the infant Jesus, while heavenly visions swirl overhead.  Both examples come from the Baroque period.  It is too early in my research to determine if this is a particularly Baroque invention, but it may be.  In addition, both are in the form of drawings and, so far, I know of no painted versions of this iconography.  But it is an intriguing clue that more such images may exist.

Cesare Fantetti, Death of Saint Anne Surrounded by Her Family
Italian, c. 1670-1680
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Andrea Scacciati, The Death of Saint Anne
Italian, 1766
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

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."

Note:  The original 2011 iconographic explanations are linked to the headings in each of the sections above.  

In addition, prior years updates can be linked to below or can be located in the Blog Archive on the right side of the page, by year for the month of July.

2014

2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020

There was no 2021 update.

© M. Duffy, 2022

Much More Than Meets the Eye

For several hundred years European and American sensibilities have been influenced by an error.  

 

 

  

 

 

 

Virtually all the civil and religious sculpture that was produced between the mid-15^th century and the mid-20^th century has been monochrome.  It has been either white marble or bronze.  Any visitor to the grand edifices built in those years in London or Paris or New York or Washington and any visit to the parks and plazas of those same cities (and countless others) knows this to be true.  

Even statues of contemporaries or near contemporaries have been like this.  Think of the statue of Queen Anne in front of London’s Saint Paul’s, of Louis XIV in the Place Vendome, of Queen Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace or of the monuments to Presidents Lincoln or Jefferson.  The whiteness of the marble or the tone of the bronze have come to signify their greatness, their eternal fame and our own sense of memory.  

  

This sensibility was handed down to our ancestors by their ancestors, going all the way back to the Renaissance, when the first archaeological excavations unearthed survivors of the classical Greek and Roman past and those survivors were white or bronze.  Or were they?

 

Pheidias, Procession of women from the Parthenon Frieze, Athens
Greek, c. 438-432 BC
London, Trustees of the British Museum

This has for long been the accepted standard of classical sculpture.

Since most of the unearthed marble statues from antiquity were made of marble from the island of Paros, they came to be known as Parian marble.¹   Looking back through the years the word “parian” has always conveyed an impression of gleaming but remote and perfect whiteness.  Much effort was made in the 19^th century to recreate this exquisite material in cheaper, more abundant materials, perfect for the diffusion of classical taste to the wider public.  This was achieved by the discovery in Europe of the process of making hard paste porcelain, first in France, with the glorious Sevres porcelain, but later in England and Ireland.  Josiah Wedgwood became famous and rich for producing pottery distinguished by pure white figures fired onto vessels of various colors, especially the light “Wedgwood” blue which he made famous.  The Beleek company in Northern Ireland has always been proud of the pure white “Parian ware” produced from its kilns.²   In other words, “parian” represented an imagined, ideal classical past.

Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, Vase
English, c. 1790
London, Victoria and Albert Museum

However, while this may be the impression that is shared by the general public, art historians know that this has almost always been an illusion, that the classical past was as colorful, perhaps even more colorful, than the present.  We knew that many ancient statues showed traces of eroded pigments, often held in protected areas like folds, but occasionally easily visible to the naked eye.  We knew that medieval artists continued using color on statues, both in stone and in wooden statues.  We could see it, sometimes blatantly obvious, sometimes more hidden.  If one looked closely enough, it was there to be seen.  But this has remained an “insider” view, not one shared by the general population.  Until now. 

In the last few years, a traveling exhibition that set out to change that general opinion has been visiting major museums around the world and it is now the turn of the Metropolitan.  Indeed, the Met itself has been a major participant in producing this particular show, using its extensive collection and the advanced techniques for analyzing the remains of ancient pigments that its conservation department affords.  Since the exhibition, called “Chroma: Ancient Sculpture in Color”, was first announced I have been itching with anticipation to see it.   A couple of days ago I did, and it was a very satisfying experience, which will have to be repeated multiple times. 

Gallery view showing the reconstructed figure of an Archer from the Temple of Aphaia at Aegina (in the spotlight) among objects from the Metropolitan's own collection

At first, I was a bit taken aback by the way in which the exhibition is organized.  I had expected to find the objects in question in one of the special exhibition galleries, all in one place, as is usual.  However, they are not arranged in this way.  In keeping with a recent philosophical change regarding exhibitions, the objects in this exhibition are scattered throughout the Greek and Roman galleries, turning the act of viewing them into something of a treasure hunt.  But, in most cases, they aren’t hard to find.  Unfortunately, I had slept badly the night before and so was very tired, causing my ailing back and shoulder to be more painful than usual.  So, this limited the energy and the patience I had available for a hunt.  I will have to return (probably several times) to see it all. 

As you might suspect from the title of this essay and from this preamble, the subject of this exhibition is a little unusual.  It is an exploration of the use of color in antiquity.  Much to the surprise of the multitudes who have assumed for centuries that “classical” Greek statues were carved and displayed in a kind of pure, pearly white, state, indicative of a society that was idealizing, calm and unflappable, these statues were originally highly, even (to our eyes) garishly, colored.  Thus, the “ideal” marble statues of the Renaissance and later, from Michelangelo’s David through Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne to Canova’s Perseus to the Lincoln Memorial, are based on a misunderstanding of the evidence from antiquity.  Instead, the ancient Greeks and Romans used lifelike color and gilding to create works that, at the time looked astonishingly lifelike.³   If the crowds gathered around these works are any indication, some of them are catching modern people up short. 

The exhibition includes works from the Archaic Greek period through the Roman period, or roughly for about 700 years.  Colored reconstructions of ancient works from the Met’s collection are displayed alongside the originals throughout the Greek and Roman galleries. Some of the colorized works represent originals not from the Met’s own collection, but these are displayed beside related items that do belong to the museum. The coloration of the reproduced works is based on careful, scientific analysis of the traces of pigment that can still be found on them.  The work of analysis has largely been driven by Dr. Vincenz Brinkmann, a professor of Archaeology and curator of the Collections of Antiquities and Asia at the Liebighaus Museum of Sculpture in Frankfut-am-Main, with the help of scientists and conservation professionals in many museums and universities. The work of applying the colors has been accomplished by his wife, Ulrike Koch-Brinckmann, who is an art historian specializing in antiquity.  

Gallery view showing the original funeral stele against the wall, the original Sphinx finial on the right and the reconstructed, painted Sphinx on the left.

Seeing these surprisingly colorful images, next to the original or closely related original works, is astonishing.  Suddenly, those fragile, nearly hidden colors become bold and alive!  Among the most striking of the objects I saw was the image of a sphinx, directly modeled from a well-known Met original, the finial atop the funerary stele of a young man from the mid-fifth century BC.  

Marble Capital and Finial in the Form of a Sphinx

Greek, c. 530 BC

New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

One can see the remains of paint on the marble original with the naked eye.

The colorized sphinx is set up next to the original, and behind it one can see the stele that the original once adorned (the crowning sphinx finial now replaced with a molded copy). They make a startling grouping.  And, now that color is being underscored, one can see that the stele itself was once highly colored.  The upper area, including the young man’s head and the background behind it, were once highly colored.  Traces of pigment are clearly visible in his hair, eyebrows, eyes and the background surrounding his upper torso.

Marble Stele with a Youth and Little Girl
Greek, c. 530 BC
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Similarly, on the mezzanine level of the Greek and Roman galleries, usually a very lightly visited area, a group of people were transfixed by a video describing how the process of unraveling the colors and recreating the past was accomplished, while standing next to a stele dedicated to a Hoplite (foot soldier) and a copy of a similar stele that has been colorized.  

Gallery View Showing Visitors Standing Beside the Met's Image of a Hoplite and the Reconstruction of a Similar Image while watching an explanatory video.  You can view the same video at Chasing Color

That upper area also included some other gems.  There is a comparison of a colorized statuette of a Kore (young woman), next to a full sized original from the Met’s collection and a case filled with small works from the Met’s collection that contain significant traces of paint. 

Gallery View showing an original Greek Kore from the late 6th Century BC in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum on the left and a reconstruction of the Chios Kore from c. 510 BC from the collection of the Acropolis Museum in Athens on the right.

Case containing smaller items in terracotta from the Hellenistic and Roman periods.  All have retained vestiges of their original color.

Terracotta Statuette of a Woman
Greek-South Italian, Late 3rd Century BC
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art 
This is the statuette that is farthest to the left in the picture above.

At the very entrance of the Greek and Roman galleries stands the funerary statue of a Kore (young woman).  She looks like many of the Kore that are included in collections from around the world, but she is painted and gilded.  From her astonishingly patterned red dress to her black hair, from her gold-tinged sandals, belt, necklace and bracelets to the bud she holds in her left hand to the crown of similar buds on her head, she is a presence, an individuated presence. 

Reconstruction of the Kore from the funerary Stele of Phrasikleia

Greek, c. 540 BC,

Athens, National Archaeological Museum

Colorized reproduction © Vincenz Brinckmann, 2010

Farther along the main Greek and Roman sculpture gallery stands another woman who might almost be one of us.  Indeed, as I approached her, a woman wearing a sari passed her by and I was struck by how similar the clothing was, in a way I would never have imagined if that sari clad woman had passed by a typical looking Roman statue.  It simply would not have occurred to me that the folds of the two dresses from different parts of the globe and from a distance of almost two thousand years fell in the same ways.  This statue is also set next to an original from the Met collection.  

Reconstruction of a Marble Statue, so-called Small Herculaneum Woman
Greek, Second Century AD
Athens, National Archaeological Museum
Colorized reproduction © Vincenz Brinckmann, 2019

I found this statue a bit unnerving.  Some of the others are done in very strong colors, but the research on this one has shown that the colors used were softer and more subtle.  Therefore, she has a more contemporary feel and a truly eery lifelikeness that was a bit unnerving.  She certainly attracted many visitors. 

There are quite a few objects in this exhibition, including portrait busts, bronze warriors, reconstructions of works from temple pediments and other items.  It was more than I could encompass in a few hours with little sleep and in a good deal of pain.  I will be getting back there soon and will continue to edit this article as I do.  I thought about waiting to publish this until I had seen more of it, but decided that this approach is better.  I urge anyone who can get there between now and next March to do so.  The exhibition will be in place until March 26, 2023.  

© M. Duffy, 2022

1)      Merriam-Webster definition:

1.      a porcelain composed essentially of kaolin and feldspar and usually used unglazed in ornamental articles 

2.      of or relating to the island of Paros noted for its marble used extensively for sculpture in ancient times

“Parian.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster,https://www.merriam-webster.com. Accessed 16 Jul. 2022.

Parian Ware:

2)     Parian ware, porcelain introduced about 1840 by the English firm of Copeland & Garrett, in imitation of Sèvres biscuit (fired but unglazed porcelain). Its name is derived from its resemblance to Parian marble.

"Parian ware". From Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Mar. 2008, https://www.britannica.com/art/Parian-ware. Accessed 16 July 2022.

3)     A good discussion of this issue is found at https://buntegoetter.liebieghaus.de/en/