Saint Anne
Laywoman (
c. 4 Anno Domini A.D.) Feast: 26 July
Mother of Blessed Virgin
Ann was a dear old lady who had been married a long time. But God had never sent her a child. That made her sad 
She wanted a baby to brighten her home. She kept praying 
to God, & God heard her prayer. Her lovely little baby was Mary . But even her happy Mother did not know that this little girl would be the Mother of God
goodreads.com/en/book/show/9154028
in the Temple. She loved her very much 
All the time, God knew Ann would be the Grandmother of His Son 
. Because she was so good to Mary , His Mother, Jesus made Ann a great saint. When we pray to her, we know that Jesus , her Grandson, will listen to what she asks for us.#SaintAnn Pray for Us
#Catholic
https://youtu.be/ILyAM5BPnUc
If you are visiting the Louvre and find the crowd surrounding the Mona Lisa too thick for comfort, you might retreat into an adjacent room to contemplate another of Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpieces in greater seclusion. The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, though less famous than its sister painting, is equally enigmatic, and even more profound. Now just steps away from each other, the two paintings have been companions since their inception. In 1503, a Florentine clerk named Agostino Vespucci mentioned the two paintings together while comparing Leonardo’s artistic method to that of the ancient Greek painter Apelles. Leonardo, like Apelles, tended to begin by painting the head and shoulders of his subjects before finishing the rest of the tableau. In the case of both the Mona Lisa and The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, Vespucci provides the earliest clear evidence for the existence of the paintings. Leonardo continued to work on the two paintings for more than a decade, fleshing out the figures and filling in the craggy backgrounds, but left both unfinished at his death in 1519. The two paintings were acquired by King Francis I of France and after gracing the walls of various royal palaces eventually ended up in the Louvre in 1793.
Although it was long held that Leonardo had been commissioned to paint The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne for the high altar of the Santissima Annunziata in Florence, recent scholarship suggests that Leonardo undertook the painting of his own initiative after moving to Florence in 1500. The Florentines venerated Saint Anne as the protector of their republic. On July 26, 1343, the feast day of Saint Anne, the Florentines had overthrown the tyrannical (titular) Duke of Athens. With the exile of the Medici family and the restoration of the Republic in 1494, devotion to Saint Anne experienced a renewed growth. Leonardo chose to paint Saint Anne in response to these political and religious events, synthesizing traditional religious piety with innovative approaches to the iconography and arrangement of the scene.
In the 14th and 15th centuries, an iconographic tradition developed of depicting Anne, Mary, and Jesus in a vertical arrangement, with Jesus on his Mother’s lap; his Mother in turn rests on her own mother’s lap. The c. 1340 Madonna and Child with Saint Anne by the Pisan artist Francesco Traini (now in the Princeton University Art Museum) and the c. 1424 Sant’Anna Metterza by the Florentine Masolino (now at the Uffizi in Florence) are important examples of this tradition. Leonardo would have certainly encountered the latter painting at the Church of Sant’Ambrogio in Florence.
In The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, Leonardo builds on this tradition but expands it in an inventive manner that would have tremendous influence on later artists (especially notable in the case of Raphael). Rather than a strictly vertical composition, Leonardo crafts a pyramid out of the three figures. Saint Anne, the mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus, forms the apex, while paradoxically also providing the base. The Virgin Mary relaxes on her mother’s lap, extending her arms to constrain her mischievous son. The baby Jesus is engaged in what seems to be a rather uneven wrestling match with an innocent little lamb whose wool is as curly as the locks on the child’s head.
The three human figures are each smiling, but their smiles contain multitudes. Anne’s unbridled grin reminds us of the satisfaction of a grandmother who can adore her little grandson while not needing to take responsibility for his antics. Mary’s expression is more ambiguous, conveying unconditional motherly love intermingled with equally motherly exhaustion. (Mary was without sin, but she still got tired!) The baby Jesus has a look of violent delight, his gleaming eyes proclaiming: Did you not know that I must be about my father’s business (Lk 2:49)? The baby Jesus, uniting the gradually developing mind of a human child with the beatific vision of the heavenly Father, is already wrestling with his providential destiny; he is the true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29). The little lamb is the only scowling member of the scene; perhaps he does not yet understand the hidden meaning of Abraham’s promise: God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt offering (Gn 22:8).
As we contemplate The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, we are reminded of the need to give thanks to God for the wonder of our being, the gift of life itself. For it was you who formed my inmost being, knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank you who wonderfully made me; how wonderful are your works, which my soul knows well! (Ps 139:13–14). Whatever stage of life we are at, whatever hardships we may be enduring, the varied smiles of Anne, Mary, and Jesus should fill us with hope. For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die…a time to weep, and a time to laugh (Eccl 3:1-2, 4). The three figures in this painting remind us that the whole range of human emotion and experience has been redeemed by the Incarnation, which came about with the free cooperation of the immaculately conceived Mother of God. Whatever struggles we may have, we are not alone, for Jesus remains always with us and his Mother is praying for us (now and at the hour of our death). The same Jesus who subdues the lamb in Leonardo’s painting has subdued the world, robbing sin and death of ultimate victory. We have been ransomed, not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ as of a spotless unblemished lamb (1 Pt 1:18-19). In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world(Jn 16:33).
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Father Innocent Smith, o.p.
Dominican friar of the Province of Saint Joseph and professor at Saint Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland. His doctoral studies focused on medieval liturgical and biblical manuscripts.
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Louvre Museum, France. © RMN-GP / René-Gabriel Ojéda.
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