Saint Anne, The Virgin And Child

Flemish school, 16th century

Saint Anne, the Virgin and Child

Oil on copper, 21 x 16 cm

With period frame, 65 x 56 cm

The painting depicts three central figures: the Madonna, Baby Jesus and Saint Anne, arranged in a setting that suggests a cozy interior or environment. The overall style, the attention to detail in the faces and hands, and the composition of the figures are consistent with the characteristics of 16th century Flemish painting. The Madonna is placed to the left of the composition, seated, and wears a red dress with a drapery covering her head and shoulders. A golden halo surrounds her head. His gaze is turned downwards, with an expression of serene contemplation or tenderness. She holds or gently supports Baby Jesus in her lap. The Child leans towards the right, with one hand taking some fruit from Sant'Anna. Saint Anne is to the right of the Madonna, who is also seated. She wears a dark dress and a light veil covers her head: her gaze is turned towards the two central figures. In the upper right part you can glimpse a stylized landscape with buildings and hills representing a distant city, typical of Flemish painting of the period which loved to insert landscape details even in sacred scenes. The scene finds itself enriched and embellished by the frame that encloses the twig, thanks to the gilding and the double profile with vegetal motifs which, together with the central band and the passe-partout, creates a depth capable of focusing the viewer's gaze on the space, excellently surrounded, of the work. The type of frame is the “box” one, which spread starting from the end of the 15th century and throughout the 16th century, taking over and coexisting with the already existing aedicule frames, whose shape I take up but in a more linear way and without the presence of architectural elements.The fortune enjoyed by this type of frame was such that it was able to surpass centuries and eras: thanks to its elegance and practicality, this model was chosen by artists and collectors also following the aforementioned period, also guaranteeing a certain variety from an ornamental point of view and developing differently in the various areas of Europe and Italy. What we find ourselves in front of belongs to the Emilian production of the second half of the sixteenth century, therefore contemporary with the work it frames, as can be deduced from the burin workmanship of the flat band according to a floral motif, which is linked to those with overlapping acanthus leaves and facing inwards of the external profile and the stop. On the external side of the profile you can see the depth of the frame, also decorated in this section through a pod with alternating lanceolate leaves.