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Lot Essay
This woodcut shows the Holy Family together with Saint Anne, her three husbands and two younger daughters, Mary's half-sisters. According to the legend of Saint Anne, she first married Joachim, but became pregnant with Mary through Immaculate Conception. After Joachim's death she married Joseph's brother Cleophas and finally Salonas. She bore a daughter to each of these two men; Mary Cleophas and Mary Salome, both shown here as young girls. They would later become mothers to several of the apostles. This image of the Madonna lactans with her relatives is therefore not just a depiction of the family of Christ; it is a representation of the origins of the Church within one family.
Due to its unusual, almost square format and the fact that it lacks the monogram, doubts have been raised as to whether this print is by Dürer or a member of his workshop.
Due to its unusual, almost square format and the fact that it lacks the monogram, doubts have been raised as to whether this print is by Dürer or a member of his workshop.