Artwork
Madonna and Child with St. Anne.
Madonna and Child with St. Anne. is an oil painting by the Northern Renaissance artist Hans Memling. It dates from 1490 and is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The work thus represents a meditation on maternal lineage and the divine protection afforded to Christ through his earthly ancestry.
The composition portrays the Virgin Mary seated with the infant Christ Child on her lap, while Saint Anne, Mary's mother, stands to the side, creating a familial grouping that emphasizes generational holiness. Symbolically, Mary's central position and tender embrace highlight her role as the intercessor, whereas Anne's outstretched hand conveys guidance and blessing toward the Child. The work thus represents a meditation on maternal lineage and the divine protection afforded to Christ through his earthly ancestry.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on panel, a combination characteristic of Early Netherlandish painting in which Memling worked. According to the cataloguing, the materials are recorded as oil paint and panel, with the composition measuring 43.4 cm in height by 31.3 cm in width. The painting belongs to the religious genre and depicts the Madonna and Child, with the catalogued main subject identified as the Madonna and Child.
Its stylistic placement within the Early Netherlandish movement is noted in the structured data for the work. The panel support and oil medium are consistent with the technique used by Memling for small-scale devotional images of this period.
History & Provenance
The painting was created by Hans Memling around 1480, as indicated by its documented inception date and stylistic placement within his oeuvre.
It entered the Bavarian State Painting Collections, where it remains in the Alte Pinakothek, Munich. No record of a specific commission or earlier provenance is provided in the cited sources.
The painting is held in the collection of the Bavarian State Painting Collections and is displayed at the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Its inventory number is 1362, as recorded by the holding institution. The work has been included in the permanent display of the Alte Pinakothek, where it remains accessible to the public.
Overview
Hans Memling’s Madonna and Child with St. Anne, executed in oil around 1490, presents a quiet devotional grouping typical of the Northern Renaissance. The composition centers on a seated Virgin holding the infant Christ, flanked by an older woman identified as St. Anne. The figures rest before an elaborately carved stone chair, rendered with meticulous detail, and the work now belongs to the collection of the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Artist & collection
Artist
Hans Memling was a German-Flemish painter who worked in the tradition of Early Netherlandish painting.
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