École du Nord du XVIIe ou du XVIIIe siècle Lot n° 46

The Education of the Virgin by Saint Anne and Saint Joachim Oil on parquet panels 151.5 x 118 cm Provenance: > Sale Fischer Kunstauktion, 14-16 November 2007, Lucerne (Switzerland), lot 1007 Private collection of a manor in the Aisne "Hide this belly that I cannot see Although the subject represented here - The Education of the Virgin - does not exist in the Bible, strictly speaking, the subject nevertheless enjoyed a fertile iconographic fortune from the 17th century onwards. Surrounded by her parents, Mary as an adolescent devotes herself to reading a book, visible in the center of the painting, which does not fail to attract the eye. From the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (XI, 2) we read: "Virgine castam exhibe Christo / present yourselves to Christ as a pure Virgin". This reference to Mary's virginity is all the more interesting because it resonates with the conspicuous swelling of her dress at the level of her belly, in the folds of which a cradle seems to be outlined. Mary is of course not yet pregnant and this scene must be read more from a symbolic and theological point of view. Indeed, the cohabitation of the mention of her virginity and the anticipation of her pregnancy through her dress illustrate well the positions of the Counter-Reformation, which reaffirmed the immaculate dimension of Mary (on the contrary, contested by the Reformation, which denied her sanctity and virginity). For Catholics, unlike Eve and her descendants, Mary was not at fault, she was a virgin before, during and after giving birth to Jesus. Through this family scene, this painting condenses an entire ideological and theological debate, rendered in the features and innocence - disputed - of Mary. - Lucile Roche Condition report: Framed. Restorations and repaints