Saint Anne with the Virgin and the Christ Child, c. 1511/1515

West Building, Main Floor — Gallery 41-A

Medium

oil on panel

Dimensions

painted surface: 72.5 x 56.7 cm (28 9/16 x 22 5/16 in.)
overall (panel): 73.5 x 57.5 cm (28 15/16 x 22 5/8 in.)

framed: 84.5 x 70.5 x 6.4 cm (33 1/4 x 27 3/4 x 2 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney K. Lafoon

Accession Number

1976.67.1

Artists / Makers

Master of Frankfurt (artist) Netherlandish, c. 1460 - active 1520s

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Provenance

Private collection, Budapest; purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Sidney K. Lafoon, Washington, D.C., by or shortly before 1954; gift 1976 to NGA.

Associated Names

Lafoon, Sidney K., Mr. and Mrs.
Private Collection (NGA Former Owner)

Technical Summary

The painting, composed of two boards, was restored in 1979-1981 and is now in secure condition. Numerous small losses have been inpainted, and extensive losses in Saint Anne's green robe as well as the gold cloud that surrounds God the Father have been repainted.[1]

Examination with infrared reflectography reveals large amounts of underdrawing in the figures. The manner of underdrawing in the drapery is somewhat different than that in the faces and hands. There are changes in the position of Saint Anne's and the Virgin's hands and in the heads of the Christ Child and the Virgin. The absence of major pentimenti suggests that changes were made at the drawing stage.[2]

[1] Hoenigswald 1982, 55 - 62. The painting was restored at least twice in the past and a memorandum of a conversation between Arthur Wheelock, curator of northern baroque painting at the Gallery, and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Lafoon on 30 June 1976 in curatorial files mentions the restoration by Harold Cross in 1955.

[2] Hoenigswald 1982, 56.

Bibliography

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): 43-52, figs. 1, 6.

1982: Hoenigswald, Ann. "Saint Anne with the Virgin and the Christ Child. Technical Investigation and Treatment." Studies in the History of Art 12 (1982): 55-65, figs. 1-8.

1983: Goddard, Stephen. "The Master of Frankfurt and his Shop." Ph.D. dissertation, University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1983: 110-111, 153-154, 389, no. 78, fig. 136.

1985: European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 253, repro.

1986: Hand, John Oliver and Martha Wolff. Early Netherlandish Painting. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1986: 151-154, repro. 153.