Virgin and Child with Saint Anne | Albrecht Dürer | All | European Paintings | Collection Database | Works of Art

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Inscribed (right center): 1519 / AD [monogram and date are later additions]

Gallery LabelThis picture, by the greatest German Renaissance artist, was intended for private devotion. It depicts Saint Anne (who was particularly venerated in Germany) with her daughter, the Virgin Mary, and the Christ Child. The motif of the Virgin adoring the sleeping Christ Child was probably inspired by the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini whose art Dürer admired during his two trips to Italy. Dürer's wife, Agnes, who remained childless throughout her life, was the true model for Saint Anne, studied in a preparatory drawing in the Albertina, Vienna.

Although the monogram and date are later additions, the picture was probably painted in 1519, around the time that Dürer became keenly interested in the teachings of Martin Luther.

NotesThe picture was examined in Paintings Conservation in March 1986. The monogram and date prove to be relatively recent. There is some evidence that the picture may have been transferred, but it was clearly not transferred to canvas, as previously recorded, and there is no reason to believe that the technique differed from that employed by Dürer on other panel paintings.

There is a drawing for the Saint Anne in the Albertina, Vienna, and a study for the head of the Child is in the Hamburger Kunsthalle.

At least seven other versions of this composition exist [see Ref. Anzelewsky 1991, p. 260].

ProvenanceLeonhard Tucher, Nuremberg (from about 1519–d. 1568); his son, Paul IV Tucher, Nuremberg (1568–d. 1603; inv., 1604, presumably this picture); his son, Leonhard II Tucher, Nuremberg (from 1603); Gabriel III Tucher, Nuremberg (until d. 1628); Hans von Furtenbach, Nuremberg (1628–30; sold to Maximilian); Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria, Munich (1630–d. 1651); Electors of Bavaria, later [from 1806] Kings of Bavaria, Residenz, Munich, later Schloß Schleißheim, Oberschleißheim, Germany (1651–1852; their sale, Munich, April 13–23, 1852, no. 128, for fl. 50 to Entres); [Joseph Otto Entres, Munich, 1852–67; sold for Fr 46,000 to Kuris]; Ivan Iraklievich Kuris, Odessa (1867–d. 1898); his widow, Liubov' Ivanovna Kuris, Odessa and Dresden (1898–1911; sold to Duveen); [Duveen, New York, 1911; sold for $228,890 to Altman]; Benjamin Altman, New York (1911–d. 1913)

Exhibition History

Odessa. Imperial Novorossiia University. "Snimki s predmetov i kartin iz sobraniia Iv. Ir. Kurisa, byvshikh na vystavke VI archeologicheskogo s'ezda v Odesse 1884 goda," 1884, no. 12.

Odessa. Obshchestvo popecheniia o bol'nykh detiakh g. Odessy [Society for the care of sick children in Odessa]. "Katalog vystavki proizvedenii iskusstv i redkikh veschei [Exhibition catalogue of works of art and rare objects]," 1888, no. 294.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Art Treasures of the Metropolitan," November 7, 1952–September 7, 1953, no. 103.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Masterpieces of Fifty Centuries," November 15, 1970–February 15, 1971, no. 232.

New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Gothic and Renaissance Art in Nuremberg, 1300–1550," April 8–June 22, 1986, no. 144.

References

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