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Two women and a baby, all with pale skin, sit together on a gray, stone throne with patterned fabric hanging behind them and a patterned rug below in this narrow, vertical painting. The woman sitting on the throne, Saint Anne, is the largest. A second woman, Mary, is smaller in scale, and she sits on Saint Anne’s lap. Mary, in turn, holds a nude baby boy on her lap. Both women have light brown eyes under faint, arched brows, smooth skin, long straight noses, and their shell-pink lips are closed. Saint Anne sits with her body facing us and she looks down with her head slightly tilted to our left. Her white head covering drapes over her shoulders and hangs down from her chin to cover her neck. She wears a marine-blue dress cinched at her waist with a black and gold belt, and a crimson-red robe that falls to and puddles around her feet. Her right arm, on our left, wraps around and holds Mary’s hip, and she supports a book with gold-edged pages with her other hand. Mary sits on Saint Anne’s right thigh, to our left, and leans toward the baby, who sits on her left knee, to our right. Her long, wavy, brown hair falls over her shoulders, and she wears a cobalt-blue robe over a lilac-purple dress. The baby has short, curly blond hair and reaches to turn the pages of the book. He has rounded cheeks and a pudgy torso. The stone throne is ornamented on the arms and at the top corners with ivory-white, nude children that are presumably also carved out of stone. The cloth hanging behind Saint Anne is decorated with glimmering gold, ornamental leaf designs against a pine-green background. The rug beneath her feet is a geometric pattern of red, tan, black, and white.

Gerard David and Workshop

The Saint Anne Altarpiece: Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child [middle panel], c. 1500/1520

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 41-A

series Title

The Saint Anne Altarpiece

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

painted surface (including addition at top): 232.5 x 96 cm (91 9/16 x 37 13/16 in.)
overall (panel): 236.1 x 97.5 cm (92 15/16 x 38 3/8 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.17.b

Artists / Makers

Gerard David (painter) Netherlandish, c. 1460 - 1523

Netherlandish 15th/16th Century (painter)

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
Read our full Open Access policy for images .

Inscription

upper center on a band around the Virgin's forehead: SVSSIPE MARIA MATER GRACIE

Provenance

Cardinal Antonio Despuig y Dameto [d. 1813], Raxa, Palma de Mallorca; by descent to Counts of Montenegro, Raxa, Palma de Mallorca.[1] Leon de Somzée, Brussels, by 1899.[2] Gaston de Somzée, Brussels;[3] purchased May 1902 through (Charles Fairfax Murray) by (Agnew & Sons, London); sold January 1906 to (Sedelmeyer Gallery, Paris).[4] (Eugene Fischhof, Paris and New York); sold April 1907 to Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[5] inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] The first mention of the painting is Joaquín María Bover, Noticia Histórica-Artística de los Museos del Eminetísimo Señor Cardinal Despuig Existentes en Mallorca (Palma, 1845), 178, no. 152, 194, no. 207, and 195, no. 216. See also Darl Justi, "Altflandrische Bilder in Spanien und Portugal," Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 21 (1886), 137-138. For the life of Cardinal Despuig, see Luis Ripoll, Raxa y el Cardinal Despuig (Palma de Mallorca, 1954), 8-15, and Jaime Salva, El Cardinal Despuig (Palma de Mallorca, 1964).

[2] Exhibition of Pictures by Masters of the Flemish and British Schools including a Selection from the Works of Sir Peter Paul Rubens (London, The New Gallery, 1899-1900), no. 52.

[3] Exposition des Primitifs flamands et d'art ancien (Bruges, Hôtel de Gouvernement Provincial, 1902), no. 125, lists C. and G. de Somzée, but Sedelmeyer Gallery, Illustrated Catalogue of the Tenth Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters (Paris, 1906), 9, lists Gaston de Somzée.

[4] Agnew's Picture Stock Book no. 9, pp 256-7 and no. 10, pp. 24-25, National Gallery London Reference no. NGA 27/1/1/9-10 (copies NGA curatorial files).

[5] Unpublished document from the Widener papers in the NGA curatorial files that appears to be a copy of a receipt of 1 April 1907; the transaction was part purchase, part exchange, with Fischhof receiving an Assumption of the Virgin by Murillo. Fischhof is not mentioned in the provenance given in Catalogue of Paintings forming the Private Collection of P.A.B. Widener (Ashbourne, Pennsylvania, 1908), 155.

Associated Names

Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Thomas
Despuig y Dameto, Antonio, Cardinal
Fischhof, Eugène
Montenegro, Counts of
Sedelmeyer Gallery
Somzée, Gaston de
Somzée, Leon de
Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Technical Summary

The panel is composed of four boards with the grain running vertically. The painted section added to the top is 20.5 cm high and composed of five pieces of wood. There is a barbe on the left and right edges. Small rounded losses are present throughout and there is a diagonal scratch approximately 25 cm long in the lower right of Saint Anne's robe.

Examination with infrared photography and infrared reflectography reveals underdrawing in all three panels. Extensive underdrawing, in brush, is visible throughout the center panel. In the Virgin's arm there is what can be presumed to be a correction in a medium that has beaded and appears greasier than the other underdrawing. The underdrawing in the side panels is in a drier medium with thinner lines. The face of Saint Nicholas is underdrawn. In the right panel there are curving lines at the upper right and left and underdrawing in the face, robe, and feet of Saint Anthony.

Bibliography

1845: Bover, Joacquin María. Noticia Histórico-Artística de los Museos del Eminetísimo Señor Cardenal Despuig Existentes en Mallorca. Palma, 1845: 178, 194, 195, nos. 152, 207, 216.

1886: Justi, Karl. "Altflandrische Bilder in Spanien und Portugal." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte 21 (1886): 137-138.

1899: "Bibliographie." La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité 37 (1899): 342.

1900: C. H. "Correspondence d'Angleterre. L'Exposition des maîtres anciens à la New Gallery." La Chronique des Arts et de la Curiosité 5 (1900): 43.

1900: Friedländer, Max J. "Die Leihausstellung der New Gallery in London, Januar-März 1900.--Hauptsächlich niederländische Gemälde des XV. und XVI. Jahrhunderts." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 23 (1900): 249-250.

1900: Lafenestre, Georges. "Les arts à l'Exposition Universelle de 1900. La peinture ancienne." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 3e pér. 24 (1900): 537-538.

1902: Hulin de Loo, Georges. Exposition de tableaux flamands des XIVe, XVe, et XVIe siècles. Catalogue critique. Exh. cat. Hôtel du Gouvernement Provincial, Bruges. Ghent, 1902: 32-33.

1903: Dülberg, Franz. "Die Ausstellung altniederländischer Malerei in Brügge." Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 14 (1903): 141.

1903: Friedländer, Max J. "Die Brügger Leihausstellung von 1902." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 26 (1903): 87.

1903: Weale, W. H. James. "The Early Painters of the Netherlands as Illustrated by the Bruges Exhibition of 1902." The Burlington Magazine 2 (1903): 39.

1905: Bodenhausen, Eberhard Freiherr von. Gerard David und seine Schule. Munich (1991): 168-172, repro. opp. 168.

1906: Friedländer, Max J. "Die Leihausstellung in der Guildhall zu London, Sommer 1906, hauptsächlich niederländische Bilder des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts." Repertorium für Kunstwissenschaft 29 (1906): 579.

1906: Sedelmeyer Gallery. Illustrated Catalogue of the Tenth series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters. Paris, 1906: 9, repro. opp. 16.

1907: Winkler, Friedrich. "David Gerard." In Thieme-Becker. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907-1950: 8(1913):453.

1908: "P.A.B. Widener Collection, February 1st, 1908." Typescript, 2 vols., Library, National Gallery of Art, 1908: 155.

1911: Bodenhausen, Eberhard Freiherr von, and Wilhelm Valentiner. "Zum Werk Gerard Davids." Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst 22 (1911): 184, 189.

1913: Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, and Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early German, Dutch & Flemish Schools. Philadelphia, 1913: unpaginated, repro.

1914: Hundred Masterpieces of the Sedelmeyer Gallery, Paris, 1914: 8, no.2, repro., as by Gerard David.

1916: Friedländer, Max J. Von Eyck bis Bruegel. Berlin, 1916, 43, 181.

1921: Conway, Martin. The Van Eycks and Their Followers. London, 1916: 286-287.

1924: Friedländer, Max. Die altniederländische Malerei. 14 vol. Berlin and Leiden, 1924-1937. Berlin, 1934: 6:97-98, 146, no. 167, pl. 76. (English transl. 14 vols. Leiden, 1967-1976. Leiden, 1971: 6 pt. 2:90-91, 101, no. 167, 132, pl. 181-183.)

1929: Erdmann, Kurt. "Orientalische Tierteppiche auf Bildern des XIV. und XV. Jahrhunderts. Eine Studie zu den Anfängen des Orientalischen Knüpfteppichs." Jahrbuch der königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen (Jahrbuch der Berliner Museen) 50 (1929): 296.

1931: Kleinschmidt, Beda. Antonius von Padua in Leben und Kunst, Kult und Volkstum. Düsseldorf, 1931: 197, fig. 162.

1931: Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 38, repro.

1932: Laurent, Marcel. "Les Miracles de Saint Antoine de Padoue." Oud Holland 49 (1932): 79, 87-88, fig. 9.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 25.

1938: Waldmann, E. "Die Sammlung Widener." Pantheon 22 (November 1938): 338, repro. 336.

1942: Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 5.

1946: Boon, Karel G. Gerard David. Amsterdam, 1946: 46-47, repro.

1948: Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 68-69, repro. 68, as Saint Anne, the Virgin and the Christ Child.

1957: Marlier, Georges. Ambrosius Benson et la peinture à Bruges au temps de Charles-Quint. Damme, 1957: 46-50.

1960: "Neuerwerbungen in den USA." Die Weltkunst 30 (15 January, 1960): 8.

1961: Birkmeyer, Karl M. "The Arch Motif in Netherlandish Painting of the Fifteenth Century: A Study in Changing Religious Imagery." The Art Bulletin 43, no. 2 (June 1961): 111-112, fig. 26.

1964: Gaya Nuño, Juan Antonio. Pintura Europea Perdida por España, de van Eyck a Tiépolo. Madrid, 1964: nos. 43-45, pl. 25.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 38.

1968: Cuttler, Charles D. Northern Painting, from Pucelle to Bruegel: Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth Centuries. New York, 1968: 196.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 31, repro.

1969: Osten, Gert von der, and Horst Vey. Painting and Sculpture in Germany and The Netherlands 1500 to 1600. Harmondsworth and Baltimore, 1969: 142.

1975: European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 94, repro.

1976: Farmer, John David. "Gerard David's Lamentation and an Anonymous St. Jerome." Museum Studies (The Art Institute of Chicago 8 (1976): 39-57, repro. 47-48.

1980: Mundy, Edwin James. "Gerard David Studies." Ph.D. diss., Princeton University (1980): 28-29.

1982: Hand, John Oliver. "Saint Anne with the Virgin and the Christ Child by the Master of Frankfurt." Studies in the History of Art 12 (1982): 49 and 52, repro.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 135, no. 126, color repro., as by Gerard David.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 116, repro.

1986: Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 69-74, repro. 68.

1991: "Gerard David's Saint Anne Altarpiece" Circle Bulletin no. 8 (Fall 1991).

1992: The Saint Anne Altarpiece. Exh. brochure, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1992.

1996: Vos, Dirk de. "David, Gerhard." In The Dictionary of Art. Edited by Jane Turner. 34 vols. New York and London, 1996: 8:553.

2008: Wolf, Martha, ed. Northern European and Spanish Paintings before 1600 in the Art Institute of Chicago: A Catalogue of the Collection. New Haven, 2008: 201, 201, 203, fig. 3.