Joachim and Anna Giving Food to the Poor and Offerings to the Temple

Narrative cycles of the Virgin’s life were very popular during the 15th century, but the episode here is not commonly seen. It illustrates the charity of Mary’s parents, Anna and Joachim, before her birth. Legends current in Tuscany during Andrea’s career included accounts of Anna and Joachim’s remarkable generosity. They kept only one-third of their wealth, gave one-third to charity, and donated the remainder to the temple. On the left, Joachim distributes bread to the poor and infirm, some braced on crutches, their clothing patched and ragged. In the center, Anna approaches the temple with boys carrying sacks of grain. Despite their generosity, the couple’s childlessness—they were quite old at the time of Mary’s birth—was viewed as a sign of God’s disfavor. Eventually Joachim’s sacrifices were rejected by the priests, and he was banished from the temple. During his 40-day exile in the wilderness, angels appeared to both Joachim and Anna with news of Mary’s conception, telling them that their daughter would be most special, “through whom will come the salvation of the world.”

The National Gallery of Art owns three small panels by Andrea di Bartolo from the same altarpiece that illustrate episodes from the childhood of the Virgin. (_The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple_ and _The Nativity of the Virgin_ are the others. See Joachim and Anna Giving Food to the Poor and Offerings to the Temple for a conception of how the original altarpiece may have appeared.) All three display Andrea’s characteristic brilliantly colored palette. They also demonstrate his interest, from the early years of the 15th century, in the ideals of late Gothic art: he elongated the proportions of his figures and enlivened their movements with more expansive gestures and more agitated drapery.