St. Anne Teaching the Virgin to Read

Oil on canvas
Church of San Giuseppe alla Lungara, Rome

This painting is unlike any other I have seen of Anne teaching Mary to read. In the others, the Virgin is always a child and the two are alone. Here Mary is a young adult and St. Joseph is present, looking up at the putti. The painting hangs in a church dedicated to St. Joseph, which may explain these unusual features.

Read more about St. Anne.

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