"Saint Anne, the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child". Carved, polychromed and gilded wooden sculpture. Castilian ...

"Saint Anne, the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child". Carved, polychromed and gilded wooden sculpture. Castilian School. First third of the 16th century.
110 x 54 x 40 cm.
The sculptural group of Saint Anne, the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, also known as Saint Anne Trinitarian or Saint Anne Triple or Triplex or “The three generations”, is a polychromed, early renaissance image created by an anonymous Castilian artist, maybe from Palencia or Burgos. The iconography of the Saint Anne Trinitarian, which is a theme which anticipates the idea of the Immaculate Conception, as well as the Tree of Jesse, the Holy Kinship –is a simplification of the Tree of Jesse, or the Embrace at the Golden Gate, and it began to spread in the late 13th century, reaching its zenith in the late 15th century, and remained prominent until its dissolution after the Council of Trent, after which a different type of spirituality was chosen.
The sculptor has organised the three figures in tiers, which means that Saint Anne presides over the composition in a central position, the Virgin Mary appears to one side and the Child is placed diagonally from Mary. Although the figures do not look at one another, they are united in a play with their looks, which begins with Saint Anne, who looks at the Virgin who continues by looking at the Christ Child, finishing up with the observer, on whom the Child’s gaze is directed. In this way the three characters have been depicted according to a hierarchical perspective. The grandmother is the most important character, which is also why she is larger, and in this way substitutes her daughter as the one who intercedes, as she is also the one who offers fruit to her grandson. In this case the fruit is a pear which symbolises the love of the Christ incarnate for humanity.
The imposing figure of Saint Anne is seated on the seat of honour, which corresponds to her rank in the matriarchal line of Jesus’ family, considerably higher than that of the Virgin Mary, who is seated on her left knee. Saint Anne is dressed in the fashion of the day, with a tunic, cloak and a headdress of the type worn by older women. All of the clothing is richly gilded and scored with wrinkled folds which bring chiaroscuro effects to the piece. The Virgin who is depicted with a youthful look and blonde hair hanging loose by the sides of her face, is crowned, confirming her as queen of Heaven. She wears a low-cut silk dress, all of which is also gilded. She holds her Divine Child, who is sitting cross-legged in her lap, in both hands, The Child is about to touch his mother with one hand while with the other he makes a gesture of blessing at the pear that his grandmother is offering him.
The group has obvious similarities to others kept in Palencia, Burgos and Valladolid, such as the one attributed to Alejo de Vahía (ca.1500) in the Palencia Cathedral Museum or the example which is possibly from Burgos (ca.1501-1525) which is exhibited Museo Nacional de Escultura in Vallodolid (inventory number CE0733).
We would like to thank Javier Baladrón, doctor in History of Art, for identifying and cataloguing this piece.