Full title | The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Four Saints |
---|---|
Artist | Francesco Francia |
Artist dates | about 1447 - 1517 |
Group | The Buonvisi Altarpiece |
Date made | 1510-12 |
Medium and support | Oil on canvas, transferred from wood |
Dimensions | 195 x 180.5 cm |
Inscription summary | Signed; Inscribed |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1841 |
Inventory number | NG179 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
This altarpiece was commissioned by Benedetto Buonvisi for his family chapel in Lucca. The Virgin Mary and Saint Anne are seated on a throne. The infant Christ leans across his mother’s lap towards his grandmother to reach for the fruit she offers him.
The Virgin appears lost in thought, perhaps contemplating Christ’s destiny, which is foreshadowed by a relief carving behind her head. It represents the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22: 2), when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his own son but then provided a lamb in Isaac’s place.
Saint Sebastian and Saint Paul stand on the left and Saint Lawrence and Saint Benedict are on the right. The infant Saint John the Baptist carries a banner that reads ‘ECCE AGNUS DEI’, meaning ‘Behold the Lamb of God’ – Christ must be sacrificed and no lamb will be exchanged in his place.
This altarpiece was commissioned by Benedetto Buonvisi for his family chapel dedicated to Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, in the church of S. Frediano, Lucca. In the main panel the Virgin and Saint Anne are seated close together on a throne, and Francia reflects their dual importance by placing an arch of sky behind each of them. The figures are united by the infant Christ, who leans across his mother’s lap towards his grandmother to reach for the fruit she offers him. This type of composition, with the Virgin and Child surrounded by saints in an architectural setting, is known in Italian as a sacra conversazione (’sacred conversation‘).
The painting is highly unusual in representing Saint Anne as smaller than her daughter. In Italian art at this date, Saint Anne is usually shown larger or the same size, with the Virgin Mary seated on her mother’s lap and holding the infant Christ (in the National Gallery’s famous The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist by Leonardo da Vinci).
The Virgin appears lost in thought, perhaps contemplating Christ’s destiny, which is foreshadowed by a relief carving behind her head. This represents the sacrifice of Isaac from the Old Testament (Genesis 22: 2), when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of his faith but then provided a lamb in Isaac’s place. Events in the Old Testament are often represented as prefiguring events in the New Testament. It was not a new idea to incorporate an Old Testament episode into the Virgin Mary’s throne or the surrounding architecture but it was ingenious to do so in a way that suggests the Virgin’s thoughts. The Virgin’s robe – the brightest blue in the picture – is painted with the expensive ultramarine pigment that was traditionally used for her robe as a mark of devotion.
Saint Sebastian and Saint Paul stand on the left and Saint Lawrence and Saint Benedict are on the right. Paul, Lawrence and Benedict were name saints of members of the Buonvisi family. Saint Sebastian, a saint invoked against plague, is pierced by three arrows, representing the manner of his martyrdom. Saint Paul holds the sword with which he was executed. The repetition of the red of Saint Paul’s robe in the dress of the Virgin and the angel in the lunette above the main panel helps to tie the composition together and leads our eye to the scene above the main painting.
Saint Lawrence is dressed as a deacon of the church, wearing a long-sleeved tunic made of gold damask. The Buonvisi family were involved in the silk trade and would have appreciated this elaborate silk. Saint Lawrence holds the handle of the grill on which he was roasted to death and his martyr’s palm.
The infant Saint John the Baptist points up towards his cousin Christ and the lunette. He carries a banner that reads ’ECCE AGNUS DEI‘, meaning ’Behold the Lamb of God'. His message is that Christ must be sacrificed and that no lamb will be exchanged in his place. The lunette shows the Virgin again, now elderly, grieving over her dead son lying in her lap.
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Saint Anne with the Virgin and Four Saints
The Buonvisi Altarpiece
This altarpiece was painted for the Buonvisi Chapel in the church of S. Frediano in Lucca. It shows the Virgin Mary with her mother, Saint Anne, and the infant Christ enthroned and surrounded by saints, from left to right: Saint Sebastian, Saint Paul, Saint Lawrence and Saint Benedict.
In the main panel, the young Virgin sits holding her baby, thinking about his future sacrifice. The scene carved on the pillar behind her head represents the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22: 2), when God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son but at the last moment supplied a lamb instead. In Francia’s altarpiece, the infant John the Baptist’s banner reads ‘ECCE AGNUS DEI’ (‘Behold the Lamb of God’). His message is that Christ must be sacrificed but that no lamb will be exchanged in his place.
In the semicircular panel above the main panel, the elderly Virgin grieves over the lifeless body of her son who has been sacrificed for the salvation of mankind.
This altarpiece was painted for the Buonvisi Chapel in the church of S. Frediano in Lucca. It shows the Virgin Mary with her mother, Saint Anne, and the infant Christ enthroned and surrounded by saints. On the left are Saint Sebastian, shot with arrows, and Saint Paul, and on the right are Saint Lawrence, holding the gridiron on which he was martyred, and Saint Benedict, wearing white monastic robes.
The Buonvisi family from Lucca had an international banking business and also traded, especially in silk. Members of the family held important political roles in Lucca and also represented the city on diplomatic missions. The Buonvisi had offices in Naples, Venice, Genoa, Lyons, Tours, Louvain, Antwerp and London.
Three of the saints represented in Francia’s altarpiece are the name saints of members of the Buonvisi family: the patron who commissioned the altarpiece, Benedetto (1450–1513); his brother, Paolo (died 1484); and their father, Lorenzo (died 1451). Saint Sebastian, who was often invoked against the plague, may have been included because plague broke out in Lucca in 1510, about the time the altarpiece was painted.
The two elements of this altarpiece – the main panel and the lunette (the semicircular panel above it) – are carefully connected both in terms of theme and composition. In the main panel, the young Virgin sits holding her baby, thinking about the future sacrifice of her son. This is suggested by the scene carved on the pillar behind her head, which represents the sacrifice of Isaac from the Old Testament (Genesis 22: 2). God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of his faith but at the last moment supplied a lamb to replace Isaac on the sacrificial altar. In Francia’s altarpiece, the infant John the Baptist strides before the Virgin’s throne pointing up towards the infant Christ and the lunette above. He carries a banner that reads ‘ECCE AGNUS DEI’, meaning ‘Behold the Lamb of God’. His message is that Christ must be sacrificed but that no lamb will be exchanged in his place.
In the lunette we see the Virgin again, now old and resembling her own mother. She grieves over the lifeless body of her son who has been sacrificed for the salvation of mankind, a scene known as a pietà. The bright red drapery worn by Saint Paul in the main panel leads our eye to the dress of the Virgin and then up to the praying angel in the lunette above.
In 1891, the main part of the altarpiece was transferred from its wooden panel to a canvas to preserve it. The lunette remains on the wooden panel on which it was originally painted, although the spandrels are later additions to make the painting easier to display as a rectangular picture when it was shown in a gallery. In both paintings there are wide cracks that developed as the paint was drying and where paint has subsequently been lost. This is particularly so in the areas of orange or red drapery. To disguise the damage, both pictures have been extensively repainted, and some of the old repainting is now becoming more visible as it discolours.


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