Flemish school; second third of the XVII century.

Flemish school; second third of the seventeenth century.
"The Child Virgin with St. Anne and St. Joachim".
Oil on copper.
Measurements: 70 x 87 cm; 92 x 110 cm (frame).
Devotional scene on copper in which the Virgin Child is represented with her parents, following the usual model of the Holy Families, in fact the composition of the Virgin leaning on her mother's lap being admired by St. Joachim, in the background follows the model established by Rubens in his painting "The Education of the Virgin", a work that is currently in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp.
The iconography that alludes to Saint Anne and the Virgin, appeared for the first time at the end of the Middle Ages and became popular from the 16th century onwards, with the book appearing as an attribute of Saint Anne. This theme was the center of intense discussions in the intellectual circles of Seville during the Baroque period. Within the counter-reformist doctrine, the Church dictated a series of rules to painters, aimed at regulating the treatment of the most fundamental themes of Catholic doctrine, so that they would be understandable to the people. In particular, the Virgin became one of the most beloved subjects for the Catholic faithful, since her immaculate conception was questioned by Protestants. Hence the proliferation in the seventeenth centuries, the cycles of the Virgin's life, one of whose scenes is the one concerning her education. Although this theme aroused controversy among intellectuals, because it questioned the perfection of Mary, it was, however, very much to the taste of the people because of its human and realistic character.