Explore the Saint Anne about the Iconography of this artwork, Madonna and Child with St. Anne (Dei Palafrenieri).
Saint Anne, whom the painting is intended to honor, is a wrinkled old grandmother, who witnesses the event. She is depicted more loosely, sketchily, and thinner than the other two figures. Saint Anne is on the farther right wearing a dark navy-blue dress. She is the mother of the Virgin Mary and the grandmother of Jesus Christ. The Virgin Mary and Saint Anne are depicted with thin gold ring halos. However, Jesus is the only figure who does not have a halo. This is strange because usually in Christian artwork, Jesus is depicted having the brightest halo to draw attention to him, Caravaggio did not do that in this painting.
Caravaggio Saint Anne Virgin Mary