Artwork
Saint Anne with the Christ Child, the Virgin, and Saint John the Baptist
Saint Anne with the Christ Child, the Virgin, and Saint John the Baptist is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Hans Baldung Grien. It dates from 1511 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:center right on base of middle pillar of throne, in monogram: HBG; on halos, left to right: S.IOHANE; S.ANNA.; .MARIA.
About this work
Technique & Style
Executed in 1511, this religious painting by Hans Baldung Grien utilizes oil paint applied to a panel support.
Executed in 1511, this religious painting by Hans Baldung Grien utilizes oil paint applied to a panel support. The physical dimensions of the work are 86.7 cm in height and 75.5 cm in width. While originally created on a wooden panel, the current state of the artwork involves a transfer to hardboard.
The composition features a grouping of holy figures, specifically depicting Saint Anne, the Christ Child, the Virgin, and Saint John the Baptist, consistent with the artist's output during the early sixteenth century.
History & Provenance
Hans Baldung Grien painted Saint Anne with the Christ Child, the Virgin, and Saint John the Baptist in 1511, receiving documented payment from the Order of Saint John for work on the high altar of their church at Grünen Wörth near Strasbourg. The panel remained in that church until about 1633 and was later recorded in the Order's church in the cloister of Saint Marx, Strasbourg, from around 1687 until at least 1741, when it was inventoried as a depiction of Saint Anne. By the late nineteenth century it had moved to a village church in Alsace, where it was acquired shortly after 1870 by Dr. Georges-Joseph Wimpfen of Colmar.
Following his death in 1879 it passed to his daughter, Marie Emélie Jeanne Siben, who held it in Paris and at Zimmerbach near Colmar until her death in 1951. In 1952 it passed through the Basel dealer Fritz Frankhausen, then to Rosenberg & Stiebel in New York by 1953, when the Samuel H. Kress Foundation purchased it. The Foundation donated the painting to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in 1961, where it remains in the Samuel H. Kress Collection.
Overview
Hans Baldung Grien, a German artist, completed Saint Anne with the Christ Child, the Virgin, and Saint John the Baptist around 1511. This oil painting, originally on panel and later transferred to hardboard, presents a sacred family grouping. It exemplifies the detailed approach characteristic of the Northern Renaissance, focusing on a significant religious narrative through its figures.
Subject & Meaning
The composition centers on Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, who is depicted alongside her daughter. The Christ Child is present, accompanied by Saint John the Baptist, creating an intimate intergenerational scene. This portrayal emphasizes the lineage and familial connections central to Christian iconography, rendered with a focus on personal interaction.
Context
As a prominent German artist of his era, Hans Baldung Grien was a gifted pupil of Albrecht Dürer, a key figure in the Northern Renaissance. Baldung Grien's versatility extended beyond painting to include printmaking and stained glass, demonstrating a broad command of artistic media. His work, including this piece, contributes to the rich tradition of religious art prevalent in early 16th-century Germany.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Hans Baldung (1484 or 1485 – September 1545), called Hans Baldung Grien, (being an early nickname, because of his predilection for the colour green), was a painter, printer, engraver, draftsman, and stained glass…
