18th-century Spanish school.

18th-century Spanish school.
“Saint Anne Teaching the Virgin Mary to Read” and “Saint John the Baptist.”
Pair of oil paintings on copper.
Period frames.
Measurements: 20 x 16 cm; 27 x 22 cm (frame).
The paintings presented here are devotional in nature, as indicated by their subject matter, their small format, and the medium—copper. Both depict themes that were very much in keeping with 18th-century Spanish popular devotion: Saint Anne teaching the Virgin Mary to read and Saint John the Baptist in the desert.
The first of these subjects was very common during the Baroque period, in the wake of the Counter-Reformation. Because Protestants questioned Mary’s virginity and her role as an intercessor before God, Marian themes were particularly favored by artists in Catholic countries. This explains why the Immaculate Conception became so popular and why numerous scenes related to the Virgin’s life were painted. Here we see the moment when Saint Anne teaches Mary to read and write—a theme that does not stem from the Gospel accounts but from the popular desire to highlight the role of the maternal line in the human upbringing of the Son of God, a desire that also made Saint Anne the patron saint of mothers. It is, therefore, a common and traditionally accepted theme, even though the Scriptures recount that the Virgin, as a child, was entrusted to the temple for her education. This iconography emerged in the late Middle Ages and became popular beginning in the 16th century; since then, the book has been depicted as an attribute of Saint Anne.
As for Saint John the Baptist, he was a saint particularly often depicted as we see here: wearing a red cloak alluding to his martyrdom, clad in a sheepskin that leaves his arms, legs, and part of his torso bare, and bearing his principal iconographic attributes: the lamb, which symbolizes Jesus Christ, and the reed cross bearing a phylactery inscribed with the words “Ecce Agnus Dei,” which reinforces that same symbolic meaning. This image of Saint John as an ascetic preacher fit perfectly with the Spanish religiosity of the Baroque period, which had a particular fondness for mystical visions and scenes from the exemplary lives of the saints.