Saint Anne, the Virgin, and Child (n.d.): Artwork and History

Saint Anne, the Virgin, and Child (n.d.) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Artist unknown German, 15th century.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

This tender family grouping—with Saint Anne, the mother of Mary, shielding her daughter and Jesus in her cloak— emphasizes Christ’s maternal line of descent from King David. The oval format of the engraving plate and the impression’s small size suggest it could have functioned as a devotional medallion, whether pasted onto a cardboard support as jewelry, slipped into a pocket or a hatband, or glued into a prayer book.

Object facts

• Title: Saint Anne, the Virgin, and Child
• Date: n.d.
• Artist attribution: Artist unknown German, 15th century
• Place of origin: Germany
• Medium: Engraving in black on cream laid paper
• Dimensions: Image/sheet: 4.5 × 3.8 cm (1 13/16 × 1 1/2 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1956.808

Collection credit

Bequest of Mrs. Potter Palmer, Jr.

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.