Flemish, Antwerp, circa 1510

stamped twice with the Antwerp hand mark

Sotheby's London, 8 December 2006, lot 31

Overall the condition of the group is good, with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. Relatively little polychromy survives. The group has been constructed in sections and joints are visible, including a stable vertical open joint running from Anne's left arm to the ground. There is some stable splitting consistent with the material. There are a few losses, including the left leg of the Virgin's chair and part of the ground underneath, and three of the pinnacles of her coronet. There are a few smaller losses, including to Anne's veil. There is minor evidence of past worming to the stool, the left side and base of the back. There is a later iron bracket attached to the reverse at the bottom.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This large oak group of St Anne teaching the Virgin and Child to read carries the wood assay marks of the city of Antwerp, guaranteeing the quality of the wood of the sculpture to merchants that were exporting such works of art. In this way the city protected the reputation of their fine products from being mottled by forgeries and works from lesser towns. The elaborately undercut and thoughtfully designed drapery and sharply deliniated facial features distinguish the group. The figure of Christ in particular is of a charm and liveliness typical of Antwerp's best early 16th-century sculpture.

It is interesting to note that a basic composition for the Anna-te-Drieën groups seems to have influenced sculptors throughout the Late Gothic Netherlands. A rare example of a group of similar quality is an Anna-te-Drieën in Berlin, variously attributed to the Lower Rhenish masters Dries Holthuys and the Master of the Emmericher Leuchterkrone (see Karrenbrock, op.cit., no. 12). Its elegant overall arrangement, with Christ leafing through the book on the lap of the seated young Virgin and St Anne presiding over the two. The symmetrical organisation of the folds on the veil of St Anne, the Virgin's seat and the shoes, show that the sculptors of this and the Berlin group were inspired by a similar source.

The pervasiveness of a single type of image at this time may be due to the fact that the veneration of St Anne, patron saint of mothers and single women, was relatively new around 1510. As the mother of Mary she appeared solely in apocryphical texts and the Church only adopted a feast day of the saint in 1481. It was at this time that representations of her with the young Virgin and the Christ Child first became popular in the Netherlands and Germany.

RELATED LITERATURE
Heilige Anna, Grote moeder - de cultus van de heilige Heilige Moeder Anna, exhib. cat. Museum voor Religieuze Kunst Uden, 1992; H. Nieuwdorp (ed.), Antwerpse retabels. 15de-16de eeuw, exhib. cat. Museum voor Religieuze Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp, 1993, pp. 21-22; S. Guillot de Sudioraut, Sculptures brabançonnes du musée du Louvre. Bruxelles, Malines, Anvers. XVe-XVIe siècles, Paris, 2001, pp. 21-26; R. Karrenbrock et al., Dries Holthuys. Ein Meister des Mittelalters aus Kleve, exhib. cat. Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Kleve, 2002, pp. 100-101, no. 12; K. Woods, Imported images. Netherlandish late gothic wood sculpture in England. c. 1400-c. 1550, Donington, 2006, pp. 351-353, no. 53 and pp. 519-522, no. 522