Maerten de Vos is regarded as a forerunner of the great baroque school of painting in Antwerp. He painted portraits as well as monumental religious scenes. The Family of St Anne is signed and dated 1585 in the centre of the painting. The legend of St Anne developed in the 13th century. It tells us that Anne was married three times and each time gave birth to a baby girl. She was already an old woman when she bore Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the painting Mary is seated in the centre with the Infant Jesus on her lap. Seated next to her is her cousin Elizabeth, rather than her mother, St Anne, which is far more usual. Standing in front of Elizabeth is her son, St John the Baptist. We recognise the elderly couple to the right of the arch as Anne and her third husband Joachim, with their child Mary. Seated in the left and right foreground are Marys half-sisters. Behind them we see, from left to right, Zebedee, Zacharias and Joseph, the husbands of one of Marys half-sisters, of her niece Elizabeth and of Mary. In a view through the building we glimpse a scene in which Mary and Elizabeth meet.
| Artist |
Maerten de Vos
RKD
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | The Family of Saint Anne |
| Date | 1585 |
| Period | 16th century |
| Location | Antwerp TGN |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | signature and year top centre on the frieze of the portico: FECIT MERTINO DE VOS 1585 |
| inscription on the book of the priest on the left | |
| Collection | paintings AAT |
| Object type | oil paintings (visual works) AAT |
| Inventory number | S-51 |
| Acquisition credit |
onbekend |
| Current whereabouts | Work on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/S-51 |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/122/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus | 300055874 religious symbolism AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
11D
Christ
Iconclass
11D21 Christ-child (with attributes) Iconclass 11F the Virgin Mary Iconclass 11H saints Iconclass 11H(ALPHEUS) male saints (ALPHEUS) Iconclass 11H(JAMES THE GREAT)11 the apostle James the Great; possible attributes: book, pilgrim's cloak, hat, shell, staff, and wallet, scroll, sword - male saint as patron, protector, intercessor Iconclass 11H(JAMES THE LESS) the apostle James the Less, first bishop of Jerusalem; possible attributes: book, fuller's club, scroll Iconclass 11H(JOACHIM) the father of Mary, Joachim; possible attributes: book, two doves, lamb, (shepherd's) staff Iconclass 11H(JOHN) the apostle John the Evangelist; possible attributes: book, cauldron, chalice with snake, eagle, palm, scroll Iconclass 11H(JOSEPH) the foster-father of Christ, Joseph of Nazareth, husband of Mary; possible attributes: flowering rod or wand, lily, carpenter's tools Iconclass 11H(JUDE THADDAEUS) the apostle Jude Thaddaeus; possible attributes: book, club, halberd, scroll Iconclass 11H(KLEOPHAS) male saints (KLEOPHAS) Iconclass 11H(SIMON) the apostle Simon Zelotes (or Simon the Canaanite); possible attributes: book, saw, scroll Iconclass 11H(ZEBEDEE) male saints (ZEBEDEE) Iconclass 11HH female saints Iconclass 11HH(ANNA) Anna, mother of Mary; possible attributes: book, Christ-child, lily, Virgin Mary Iconclass 11HH(ELISABETH) Elisabeth, mother of John the Baptist; possible attributes: John the Baptist as child Iconclass 11HH(MARY KLEOPHAS) Mary Kleophas, sister of the Virgin Mary, mother of James the Less ('Maria Jacobi'); possible attributes: jar of ointment Iconclass 11HH(MARY SALOME) Mary Salome, sister of the Virgin and mother of James the Great and John the Evangelist, also one of the midwives; possible attributes: jar of ointment Iconclass 11I73(SALOME) Salome (not in biblical context) Iconclass 22C311 nimbus, halo ~ radiance emanating from persons or things Iconclass 25G11 groups of trees Iconclass 25G21(GRAPE) fruits (GRAPE) Iconclass 25G3 trees Iconclass 25I city-view, and landscape with man-made constructions Iconclass 25I2 village Iconclass 25I22 prospect of village, silhouette of village Iconclass 31A25 postures and gestures of arms and hands Iconclass 31B1 sleeping; unconsciousness Iconclass 31B62313 smiling Iconclass 31B6232 mouth slightly open Iconclass 31D112 child Iconclass 31D14 adult man Iconclass 31D15 adult woman Iconclass 41A housing Iconclass 41A1 civic architecture; edifices; dwellings Iconclass 41A14 urban housing Iconclass 41A721 chairs (furniture forms) Iconclass 41A722 couch, sofa, settee Iconclass 41C313 spoon Iconclass 41C341 dish, plate, saucer Iconclass 41D221 head-gear Iconclass 41D2332 shoes, sandals Iconclass 41D263 walking-stick, staff, cane Iconclass 41D26511 gold-thread embroidery Iconclass 41D266 ornaments, jewels Iconclass 41D267 purse, money-bag Iconclass 42A32(+0) feeding a baby (+ variant) Iconclass 42B74 family group, especially parents with their child(ren) Iconclass 47I21 cattle Iconclass 47I2133 lamb Iconclass 48C14 architectural representations in general Iconclass 48C145 architectural settings in paintings, sculptures, etc. Iconclass 48C16 architectural detail Iconclass 48C161 column, pillar ~ architecture Iconclass 48C162 arch, archivolt ~ architecture Iconclass 49L8 inscription Iconclass 49MM32 book - MM - book open Iconclass 73 New Testament Iconclass 73A2 ancestors and parents of Christ Iconclass 73A22 Holy Kinship Iconclass 73A222 extended representations of 'Anna selbdritt' (Joseph and Joachim, three husbands, three daughters with seven children) Iconclass |
| School / Style | Renaissance AAT |
| Note des tableaux dessins et estampes déposés dans la ci-devant école de l'abbaye de Baudeloo. Ceux marqués d'un K sont conformes à la note du 10 ventôse an V, trouvés au quartier de l'abbé de Saint-Pierre / Charles Piot. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (nr. 449) |
| Notice des tableaux du musée de la ville de Gand, situé au local de l'académie royale de dessin, sculpture, architecture, etc. - Gand : D.J. Vanderhaeghen-Hulin, 1846 (nr. 61) |
| Catalogue du musée de peinture de la ville de Gand, 1900 / Louis Maeterlinck. - Gand : Imprimerie Victor Van Doosselaere, 1900 (nr. 30) |
| Martino de Vos e Jacopo Zucchi in alcuni inediti / C. Lorenzetti. - [s.l.]. - [s.n.]. - 1932 ; 1933 (nr. 26, p. 458) |
| A propos de deux peintures de Martin de Vos : La décoration de la salle à manger d'Egide Hooftman / Suzanne Sulzberger. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (p. 121) |
| Museum van Schoone Kunsten : Catalogus ; Oude Meesters, Schilderstukken, teekeningen, plaatsneden (met geschiedkundig overzicht) / Maurice Dupuis, Georges Charles Nicolas Marie Hulin de Loo, Fritz Van Loo. - Gent : Drukkerij F. De Vos, 1938 ; Gent : Stad Gent, 1938 (p. 138) |
| Zusammenhänge der Niederländische mit der Italienische Malerei in der Zweiten Hälften des 16ten Jahrhundert / Fritz Baumgart. - [s.l.] : [s.n.], [s.a.] (jg. 13, p. 198) |
| Flemish Painters : Historical Survey (1430-1830) ; Dictionary ; Bibliographies ; Volume One - Two / Reginald Howard Wilenski. - London : Faber and Faber Limited, 1960 (jg. 1, p. 682) |
| La peinture flamande au siècle de Bosch et Breughel / Léo Van Puyvelde. - Paris : Elsevier, 1962 (p. 382) |
| 'Hendrik de Clercks triptiek uit de Kapellekerk te Brussel', in: Bulletin Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België / Willy Laureyssens. - Brussel : [s.n.] : 1966 (nr. 3, p. 169) |
| Iconography of the Counter Reformation in the Netherlands : Heaven on Earth / John B. Knipping. - Nieuwkoop : B. de Graaf, 1974 ; Leiden : A.W. Sijthoff, 1974 (dl. 2, p. 284) |
| Marten de Vos als Maler : Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Antwerpener Malerei in der zweiten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts / Armin Zweite. - Berlin : Gebr. Mann, 1980 (p. 179-181, 293; nr. 69) |
| Holy Feast and Holy Fast : The religious significance of food to medieval / Caroline Walker Bynum. - Berkeley-Los Angeles : University of California Press, 1987 (p. 22) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent = Museum of Fine Arts Ghent / Claudie De Guillebon, Jacques Ostier, Robert Hoozee, Monique Tahon-Vanroose. - Parijs : Association des Amis de "Musées 2000", 1989 (p. 63 (ill. 104)) |
| Dialoog met Het Geschonden Beeld na 250 jaar restaureren / Roger Hendrik Marijnissen, Leopold Kockaert. - Antwerpen : Mercatorfonds, 1995 (p. 232 (ill.), p. 270; nr. 4-5) |
| Oude Meesters uit het Museum voor schone Kunsten Gent in de crypte van de Sint-Baafskathedraal. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2004 (s.p.) |
| Het Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : een keuze uit de mooiste werken / Patrick De Rynck. - Gent : Ludion, 2007 (p. 22-23 (ill.)) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. I, p. 164-165(ill.)) |
| De Vlaamse schilderkunst ten tijde van Bosch en Breughel / Léo Van Puyvelde. - Hasselt : Heideland-Orbis, 1977 |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : De collectie (tentoonstelling vanaf 21 maart 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2021 |
| Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand : La Collection (exposition dès le 21 mars 2021) / Johan De Smet, Bart Ooghe, Frederica Van Dam, Lieven Van Den Abeele, Cathérine Verleysen. - Gand : Musée des Beaux-Arts de Gand, 2021 |
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