The Virgin and Child with St Anne

St Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, has been venerated in Lithuania since very early times. Evidence of her cult goes back to the earliest years of Christianity in Lithuania. She was often pictured in art with her daughter Mary and her grandchild Jesus, and in Europe such three-person compositions were called St Anne Trinity (in Latin Sancta Anna met tertia, in German Anna Selbdritt). The Virgin and Child with St Anne is the oldest and most popular representation of St Anne in Lithuanian art. The three-figure composition is a symbol of the earthly Trinity, as it is paralleled with the heavenly Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Such works emphasise St Anne’s historic role in the salvation of mankind.

This picture from the collection is one of the oldest and most valuable pictures of St Anne in Lithuania. She is portrayed sitting with an open Bible on her lap, protectively supporting the Holy Redeemer standing on her lap. A bunch of grapes, placed separate from other fruit behind the Infant, is a symbol of Christ’s future sacrifice of blood. Although the composition of this work has been damaged by the changed shape of the picture, the remaining silhouette of the dove of the Holy Spirit at the top elevates the picture to a transcendental level related to the heavenly Holy Trinity.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė

St Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, has been venerated in Lithuania since very early times. Evidence of her cult goes back to the earliest years of Christianity in Lithuania. She was often pictured in art with her daughter Mary and her grandchild Jesus, and in Europe such three-person compositions were called St Anne Trinity (in Latin Sancta Anna met tertia, in German Anna Selbdritt). The Virgin and Child with St Anne is the oldest and most popular representation of St Anne in Lithuanian art. The three-figure composition is a symbol of the earthly Trinity, as it is paralleled with the heavenly Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Such works emphasise St Anne’s historic role in the salvation of mankind.

This picture from the collection is one of the oldest and most valuable pictures of St Anne in Lithuania. She is portrayed sitting with an open Bible on her lap, protectively supporting the Holy Redeemer standing on her lap. A bunch of grapes, placed separate from other fruit behind the Infant, is a symbol of Christ’s future sacrifice of blood. Although the composition of this work has been damaged by the changed shape of the picture, the remaining silhouette of the dove of the Holy Spirit at the top elevates the picture to a transcendental level related to the heavenly Holy Trinity.

Text author Dalia Vasiliūnienė