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The Family of Saint Anne, 1585

  • oil paint, panel
  • 135.3 x 170 cm
  • Inv. S-51

Public Domain

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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
Antwerp 1532 - Antwerp 1603
painters (artists)AAT

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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