Saint Anne

In 1495 the Antwerp printer Govert Back published a prayer book entitled Der Kerstenen Salicheyt (On the Christian’s Salvation). ¹ The booklet is remarkable for the attention paid to the kinship of Christ, containing as it does not only prayers to Mary and her mother Anne, but also to a large group of relatives, including Anne’s parents, who in this edition bear the names Emerentiana and Stollanus. Step by step a family tree is constructed, with the most important members portrayed in simple woodcuts: the marriage ceremonies of all the family members, followed by an illustration of the family with the parents and their children (figs. 2.2, 2.3, 2.4). The story of Jesus’ life up to and including his crucifixion and resurrection completes the family portrayal. Figure 2.1 Holy Kinship of Saint Anne. Engraving of Lucas Cranach the Elder, c. 1510 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203775080/9831cd87-8e33-41e7-8ccc-c951f5b8440e/content/fig2_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Figure 2.2 (above). The Story of Emerentiana: the vision of the tree. Woodcut in Der Kerstenen Salicheyt (Antwerp, 1485). (Rijksmuseum Meermanno Westreenianum, The Hague) https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203775080/9831cd87-8e33-41e7-8ccc-c951f5b8440e/content/fig2_2_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Figure 2.3 (top right). The suitors of Emerentiana. Idem. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203775080/9831cd87-8e33-41e7-8ccc-c951f5b8440e/content/fig2_3_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> Figure 2.4 (bottom right). Emerentiana with her husband and two daughters Anne and Esmeria. Idem. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203775080/9831cd87-8e33-41e7-8ccc-c951f5b8440e/content/fig2_4_B.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>