The Virgin and Child with St Anne

Entry

In general terms, this frontal, somewhat austere image of the Virgin and Child with St Anne (St Anne Trinity) reflects the traditional iconography of such scenes produced around 1500 (cf. BK-NM-2495). St Anne sits on a profiled bench, towering high above her offspring. Per convention, she is likely to have held either a book or a bunch of grapes in her missing right hand. Mary’s smaller scale was a traditional means to convey her modesty. The only element that deviates from the standard iconography are the three pillows, one piled on top of the other, here introduced as a substitute for the seat on which she is normally depicted. Didier believed the inspiration for this motif may have come from prints by Israhel van Meckenem (Lehrs 211) and Master B.R. (Lehrs 6 II). In these depictions, however, the Virgin and Child are seated only on a single cushion.¹ In his estimation, the cushions were added purely as a decorative element designed to enhance the scene’s intimacy. As Van Liebergen rightly stated, the three cushions actually refer to concepts such as the Holy Trinity, but also the earthly female equivalent thereof, as conveyed in the group’s three figures, known in Germany as Anna Selbdritt. Accordingly, the symbolic number three and the cushions’ luxurious appearance lend a divine dignity to Mary’s modesty, though she sits at St Anne’s feet.²

At least four other surviving groups of the St Anne Trinity share the same motif of the three cushions. In all four cases, these works originate from the northern part of the duchy of Brabant and the bordering region of the Meuse River valley. Today these images are preserved, respectively, in the Sint-Laurentiuskerk in Hamont, the Sint-Annakerk in Aldeneik, the Sint-Valentinuskerk in Poppelen and in the former Merken Collection. Undoubtedly, the present sculpture’s iconography was inspired by these works. Nevertheless, virtually no stylistic commonality can be discerned between the present, rather crudely carved group and these superior examples. The absence of any interaction between the figures in the Amsterdam group, with their broad physiognomic types, vacant facial expressions, and the scarcely supple drapery folds of the dresses, in fact indicate a greater affinity with Westphalian sculpture, which, during the late Middle Ages, was strongly influenced by Netherlandish production. Works suitable for comparison and known to have a Westphalian origin are a Virgin and St Anne in the Schnütgen Museum in Cologne, as well as an Anna Selbdritt and a Mary of Seven Sorrows, both preserved in the Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Münster.³

Bieke van der Mark, 2024