Who painted The Young Virgin Mary with Saint Anne?

The Young Virgin Mary with Saint Anne was painted by Adam Elsheimer.

Where can I see The Young Virgin Mary with Saint Anne?

The Young Virgin Mary with Saint Anne is held by National Galleries Scotland.

What movement is The Young Virgin Mary with Saint Anne?

The Young Virgin Mary with Saint Anne is associated with Early Baroque Italian.

Artwork

The Young Virgin Mary with Saint Anne

Adam Elsheimer

The Young Virgin Mary with Saint Anne is an oil painting by the Early Baroque Italian artist Adam Elsheimer. It is held in the collection of the National Galleries Scotland.

About this work

Overview

The Young Virgin Mary with Saint Anne is a small oil on copper painting created in 1620 by Adam Elsheimer, a German artist based in Rome during the early Baroque period.

Subject & Meaning

The painting portrays two generations of holy women: the Virgin Mary, depicted as a young girl in a striped dress holding a book or scroll, and her mother, Saint Anne, dressed in a brown robe and white headscarf, guiding her.

Technique & Style

Elsheimer employed strong chiaroscuro, casting intense light on the subjects' faces and robes, contrasting with a dark, textured background of suggested rocky landscape and faint trees.

History & Provenance

The work is part of the collection at the Scottish National Gallery. Despite Elsheimer's short career, his innovative lighting and landscape techniques in religious art influenced notable successors.

Legacy

Elsheimer's technical and stylistic innovations, as seen in this piece, had a lasting impact on later artists, including Rembrandt and Peter Paul Rubens.