Saint Anne and Mary · Reading, transmission and childhood of the Virgin

The Education of the Virgin shows Saint Anne guiding Mary in reading, an intimate image of transmission, patience and knowledge.

The Education of the Virgin does not come directly from the canonical Gospels but from traditions devoted to the childhood of Mary and her parents, Anne and Joachim. From modern times, artists willingly represent Saint Anne sitting with her daughter, a book open in their hands. The scene combines spiritual learning and domestic tenderness. Velazquez gives the lesson a daily gravity, Georges de La Tour illuminates it like a silent vigil, Delacroix animates the relationship between the figures through color, while Rossetti transforms Mary's childhood into a symbolic universe. The "Education of the Virgin" selection notably compares The Education of the Virgin - Eugène Delacroix and The Education of the Virgin - Diego Velázquez. His reading favors drawing.

A book, two generations and a few attentive gestures are enough to make learning an image of filiation and inner transmission.