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Holy Family with St. Anne and St. Joachim

Holy Family with St. Anne and St. Joachim

Artist/Maker
Date1525
MediumOil on oak panel
DimensionsOverall: 37 × 29 1/4 in. (94 × 74.3 cm)
Frame: 41 15/16 × 34 1/4 × 2 1/4 in. (106.5 × 87 × 5.7 cm)
Credit LineGift of Robert Lehman
Object number1945.10
Status
Not on view
More Information
Before an altar radiant with celestial light, Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, holds a cluster of grapes symbolizing fertility. In the foreground, Mary sits with the Christ Child, and standing to the right is Joachim, the husband of Anne. The figure behind the column at the left is Joseph, the husband of Mary, his somewhat hidden position fitting as Christ's earthly father. Above the group is the figure of God the Father seated in majesty, holding the orb and cross which signify that Christ will rule the world. The texts about Anne and Joachim are apocryphal, and not recorded in the Bible, though the story of Hannah in the First Book of Samuel is a possible source for the legend. The artist of this unusual work has not been identified; however, the elaborate architectural setting and elegantly proportioned figures suggest that it was painted in Bruges.
ProvenanceCount Gyula Andrássy de Csíkszentkirály et Krasznahorka the Younger [1860-1929], Budapest.¹ (Hans Wendland, Berlin). (E. and A. Silberman Galleries, New York). John Bass, New York, until 1945; (his sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, January 25, 1945, no. 18, ill. [as Dierick Jacobsz Vellert, formerly in the collection of Count Andrássy]); (Schaeffer Galleries, New York); Robert Lehman [1891-1969], New York;² by gift 1945 to Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH ¹The painting is not included in the Andrássy sales of Dec 1, 1930 and April 24, 1931. It is listed as coming from the collection of Count Andrássy in the 1945 Parke-Bernet sales catalogue ("Important Paintings by Old Masters, The Notable Collection of John Bass, New York). ²Correspondence between Robert Lehman and Frits Lugt from February 1945 indicate that Lehman asked Lugt to approach Mr. Schaeffer in order to purchase the painting anonymously for Oberlin and that it came from the Bass sale. See Lehman archives, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Box 21, fol. 4.Exhibition History
Recent Acquisitions 1944-45
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH ( 1946-06 - 1946-06 )
Paintings and Drawings from Five Centuries: Collection Allen Memorial Art Museum
  • M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York (February 3, 1954 - February 21, 1954 )
Portrait of the Madonna
  • Akron Art Institute, Akron, OH (November 15, 1960 - January 1, 1961 )
Le siecle de Bruegel: La peinture en Belgique au XVIe siecle
  • Musees Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belique, Brussels (September 27, 1963 - November 24, 1963 )
Dreams and Visions: Expressing the Inexplicable
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (September 9, 1997 - October 19, 1997 )
Seven Hundred Years of Western Art
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (August 26, 2001 - June 2, 2002 )
Private Prayer, Public Performance: Religious Books of the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance
  • Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH (January 29, 2013 - June 30, 2013 )
Collections
  • European
The AMAM continually researches its collection and updates its records with new findings.
We welcome additional information and suggestions for improvement. Please email us at AMAMcurator@oberlin.edu.