St. Anne
Wood and polychrome
Transept, Church of the Monasterio de las Huelgas, Burgos, Spain
The figures in the saint's left arm are, of course, Anne's daughter Mary and the latter's son, Jesus. Her long index finger pointing toward the Mary-Jesus grouping could be an adaptation of Mary's gesture pointing to her son in Eastern "Hodegetria" icons and in their Western descendant, Our Mother of Perpetual Help.
Mary's hair, blond and uncovered, associates her with virgin martyrs, who are traditionally pictured in this way. Her gold garments match those of her mother and emphasize the closeness between the two. The baby, by contrast, is nearly naked.
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Photographed at the monastery by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.