Artwork
St. Anne Selbdritt with Archangel Michael and Saints
St. Anne Selbdritt with Archangel Michael and Saints is a paint painting by the Italo Byzantine artist Baldassarre di Biagio. It dates from 1471 and is held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Berlin.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
This arrangement exemplifies a sacra conversazione where holy figures share a unified space, emphasizing familial holiness and divine protection.
The painting shows Saint Anne seated with the Virgin Mary on her lap, the infant Jesus nearby, and the Archangel Michael standing to the side, accompanied by other saints. This arrangement exemplifies a sacra conversazione where holy figures share a unified space, emphasizing familial holiness and divine protection. The presence of Michael as a warrior angel underscores triumph over evil, while the intimate domestic setting conveys devotional tenderness within the Holy Family.
Technique & Style
The work is a religious painting executed in paint on a poplar panel, a support commonly used for Italian devotional panels of the period. Its subject, a Sacra Conversazione grouping Saint Anne with the Virgin, the Christ Child, and attendant holy figures including an archangel, is rendered in this mixed medium on wood.
Stylistically, the composition reflects the late Quattrocento Florentine tradition associated with Baldassarre di Biagio, organizing the sacred figures in a unified devotional space rather than as isolated icons. The handling is consistent with tempera-based panel practice typical of 1471 Florentine workshops, though specific pigment or gilding details are not documented in the available sources.
History & Provenance
The painting St. Anne Selbdritt with Archangel Michael and Saints was created by the Florentine artist Baldassarre di Biagio in 1471. Executed as a religious work on a poplar panel, the piece depicts a sacra conversazione featuring Saint Anne, the Virgin Mary, and the Archangel Michael alongside other saints. The work is currently held in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
While the specific commissioning patron and the detailed chain of ownership prior to its arrival at the museum are not detailed in the available records, the artwork's inception is firmly dated to the year 1471.
The painting St. Anne Selbdritt with Archangel Michael and Saints is housed in the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, where it is listed under the inventory number 2002-1-1. It was created in 1471 by Baldassarre di Biagio and is part of the museum’s collection of religious paintings.
Overview
Baldassarre di Biagio, an Italian painter working in the high Renaissance, completed the panel St. Anne Selbdritt with Archangel Michael and Saints in 1471. Executed in tempera on panel, the composition follows the Italo‑Byzantine tradition and is presently conserved in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
Context
The work exemplifies the sacra conversazione genre, a format that gathered the Virgin and Child with a group of saints in a unified space, allowing patrons to contemplate a personal heavenly assembly. The inclusion of Archangel Michael reflects contemporary theological emphasis on protection and triumph over evil.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Baldassarre di Biagio, also called Baldassarre di Biagio del Firenze or the Master of the Benabbio Triptych, (1430/1434–1484) was an Italian painter of the high Renaissance period.
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