The Virgin and Child with St Anne (recto). St Joachim (verso)

This picture painted on both sides of a tin plate was made as a part of a portable altar. The playful Rococo style and the artist’s splendid workmanship are shown by the wavy shape of the outline, the expressive drawing of the figures and the drapery, and the light and vibrant brushwork. The composition The Virgin and Child with St Anne portrays St Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary nursing the Redeemer, who is sitting on her lap. As is characteristic of late Baroque pictures on this theme, St Anne is not accentuated in this picture: the colour and the light distinguish the figures of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. On the other side of the picture is St Anne’s husband, St Joachim, holding two doves as an offering. The doves recall his expulsion from the temple: a couple who failed to have children during 20 years together were considered by the high priest to be unworthy of making offerings to God. St Joachim withdrew to the desert in deep sorrow to pray. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him there, and announced the birth of Mary, the Mother of the Saviour.

This part of a portable altar may be associated with the Bernardine friars: it is of exactly the same composition as the picture of St Anne on a portable altar in the church in Tytuvėnai, except that St Francis is painted on the other side.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

This picture painted on both sides of a tin plate was made as a part of a portable altar. The playful Rococo style and the artist’s splendid workmanship are shown by the wavy shape of the outline, the expressive drawing of the figures and the drapery, and the light and vibrant brushwork. The composition The Virgin and Child with St Anne portrays St Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary nursing the Redeemer, who is sitting on her lap. As is characteristic of late Baroque pictures on this theme, St Anne is not accentuated in this picture: the colour and the light distinguish the figures of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. On the other side of the picture is St Anne’s husband, St Joachim, holding two doves as an offering. The doves recall his expulsion from the temple: a couple who failed to have children during 20 years together were considered by the high priest to be unworthy of making offerings to God. St Joachim withdrew to the desert in deep sorrow to pray. The Angel of the Lord appeared to him there, and announced the birth of Mary, the Mother of the Saviour.

This part of a portable altar may be associated with the Bernardine friars: it is of exactly the same composition as the picture of St Anne on a portable altar in the church in Tytuvėnai, except that St Francis is painted on the other side.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė