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Gerolamo dai Libri, 'The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne', 1510-18

About the work

Overview

This is the central panel from a three-panel altarpiece for S. Maria della Scala, Verona. The flanking panel of Saint Roch by Paolo Morando is also in the National Gallery’s collection, but the other flanking panel of Saint Sebastian by Francesco di Marco India Torbido is missing. It is quite unusual for each of the three panels of a triptych to be painted by a different artist. The commission for this work was connected with an outbreak of plague in Verona from 1510 to 1512. Roch and Sebastian are both saints invoked against plague.

The Virgin Mary, Christ Child and Saint Anne are in an enclosed rose garden, symbolic of the Virgin’s purity. They are sitting on each other’s laps beneath a lemon tree, emphasising that this is the generational family tree of Christ. The dead dragon at the feet of the Virgin and the olive branch held by Christ symbolise his victory over the devil but may also refer to the ending of the 1516 siege of Verona.

Key facts

Details

Full title
The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
Artist dates
about 1474 - 1555?
Part of the series
Panels from an Altarpiece, S.Maria della Scala, Verona
Date made
1510-18
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
158.1 × 94 cm
Inscription summary
Signed
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1864
Inventory number
NG748
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

Images

About the series: Panels from an Altarpiece, S.Maria della Scala, Verona

Overview

These are two panels from a three-panel altarpiece for S. Maria della Scala, Verona. The central panel of the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by Gerolamo dai Libri and the flanking panel of Saint Roch by Paolo Morando are both in the National Gallery’s collection, but the other flanking panel of Saint Sebastian by Francesco di Marco India Torbido is missing. It is quite unusual for each of the three panels of a triptych to be painted by a different artist.

The commission for this work was connected with an outbreak of plague in Verona from 1510 to 1512. Roch and Sebastian are both saints invoked against plague. In the central panel, the dead dragon at the feet of the Virgin and the olive branch held by the Christ Child symbolise his triumph over the devil but may also refer to the ending of the 1516 siege of Verona.

Works in the series

This painting of Saint Roch is one of the flanking panels of a three-panel altarpiece for S. Maria della Scala, Verona. The central panel of the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne by Gerolamo dai Libri is also in the National Gallery’s collection, but the other flanking panel, of Saint Sebastian by...
Not on display
This is the central panel from a three-panel altarpiece for S. Maria della Scala, Verona. The flanking panel of Saint Roch by Paolo Morando is also in the National Gallery’s collection, but the other flanking panel of Saint Sebastian by Francesco di Marco India Torbido is missing. It is quite unu...
Not on display