This painting is based on Flemish representations of the coronation of the Virgin, to which images of Child Jesus, Saint Joseph and Jesus’ maternal and paternal grandparents have been added – a well-defined hierarchy that is blessed by the Holy Trinity, which appears amid a radiant halo and pairs of angels in a truly celestial atmosphere. Clouds containing cherubim serve as a base and separate the divine and earthly levels. The latter is marked by a Flemish style cartouche flanked by two kneeling bearers and with an inscription in the centre. The inscription clarifies the painting’s subject where the protagonist is Saint Anne, who is given the same treatment as the Virgin Mary and the Child, depicted moving from his mother’s lap to that of his grandmother.
The frame of the painting is japanned in bright red with low relief gilded carving. The entablature at the top with sinuous auricular designs rising symmetrically to a balanced ornamentation of local flowers, occupies the place where a shell design would appear in a European work. The entire profusion of gold-painted flower designs, along with all the carving is centred on an open lotus blossom.
You are all set!
Your first Culture Weekly will arrive this week.