Ask the Scholar

Cast in flat relief with details chiseled and pounced, this plaque could have served as an independent inspirational plaque to hang (probably framed) on the wall or be set into a door of a table cabinet. Either way, the intended viewers were probably women. This is suggested not only by the subject itself—St. Anne giving birth to Mary represented in an upper-class European household of around 1600—but also by the attention to the gentle care with which the newborn is handled and the quiet dignity of the caregivers. While details of hair, costume, and furnishings point to an origin in northern Italy, the flatness of the composition and the role of stippling suggest the possibility of a German artist looking at an Italian model.