MASTER of Elsloo
(active 1510-1530 in Limburg)

St Anne with the Virgin and Child

c. 1520
Oak, height 83 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

In the late middle ages there was a great flowering of devotion to St Anne, the mother of Mary and grandmother of Christ. The theme of the three generations, grandmother, mother and child, found favour with the artists of northern Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. This oak group, from which the polychrome decoration was removed, is attributed to the enigmatic Master of Elsloo, an important Netherlandish master from the early 16th century. It represents Anne and Mary standing side by side, linked by the playful infant, forming an intimate family scene.




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