José Montes de Oca
Seville's St. Anne Altarpiece: Detail, St. Anne Teaching the Virgin Mary to Read

This statue group of St. Anne and the Virgin Mary is the central panel in the St. Anne Altarpiece in the Collegial Church of the Divine Savior. The church's guide pamphlet ascribes the group (but not the altarpiece itself) to José Montes de Oca and dates it as 1714.

As in many other instances of this subgenre, the closeness between Anne and Mary is emphasized by the clothing. In this case, it is even more important that both wear the "crown of twelve stars" drawn from Revelation 12:1 and characteristic of images of the Immaculate Conception.

View this image in full resolution.
View the entire altarpiece.
Read more about St. Anne, Mary's early years, and the Immaculate Conception.

• Home Page
• Iconography of St. Anne
• The St. Anne Altarpiece
• This Detail

Photographed at the church by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.