SOUTH BEND, IN.- The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art gratefully adds an important German limewood sculpture depicting the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, strengthening its medieval holdings and broadening its representation of European artistic production.

The image of Mary and the infant Jesus joined by Mary’s mother, Anne, emphasizes genealogy and increases the elderly saint’s role in the salvation of the faithful. Such groupings of the trio appeared as early as 1290, but the cult of Saint Anne reached its peak in Germany and the Low Countries from about 1480 through the 1520s. The stories and legends about Anne featured her roles as a wife, mother, and as a source of charitable giving and service, making her an apt model for women in medieval society.

"The Raclin Murphy Museum of Art is honored to celebrate this important acquisition—especially during this, our Sesquicentennial. Although Marian imagery, in general, resonates powerfully at the University of Notre Dame, this strategic opportunity will certainly impact generations of visitors," said Joseph Antenucci Becherer, Director and Curator of Sculpture, Raclin Murphy Museum of Art.

In this variation on the theme of the holy family, often referred to as Anna Selbdritt, Mary and Anne sit next to each other on a bench as equals. Anne is seated on the right, veiled as any respectable married woman would be around 1500 in Germany, and is slightly larger than her daughter, indicating her status as an elder. She holds an open book in her hand and looks down towards the nude baby Jesus, who holds his hand in a gesture of blessing over the book. In his other hand, he holds an orb, symbol of the world. He is presented as the “word made flesh.” Mary is a young maiden with long flowing hair and the high hairline that was fashionable at the time. As Queen of Heaven, she wears a crown and smiles warmly at the viewer while steadying her active child standing on her knees.

Cheryl Snay, Curator of European and American Art before 1900, noted, “The artist invested the family with naturalistic, if idealized, gestures and features; and the realistic scale of the figures relative to one another and the overall balance of the composition signal the Church’s embrace of humanism.” She continued, “Symbolically, the graceful arc of Jesus’s body and his outstretched arms prefigure his resurrection and triumph over death and anticipate believers’ redemption.”

Although the artist’s name is unrecorded, the placid features of Mary’s face, the broad sweep of the drapery folds, and the deep carving are typical of Upper Rhine and Swabian sculpture of this period. The artist succeeded in combining refined elegance and beauty with the tenderness and intimacy of a family interaction, balancing theological content with the ordinary.

This important acquisition is made possible through the Fritz and Mildred Kaeser Liturgical Endowment.