ABSTRACT
St. Anne is an invented saint, lacking a verifiable historical or even scriptural origin. Of course, sainthood is a construction in any period; saints are never saints on their own behalf but “for other people,” developing and changing depending on the socio-cultural structures during the time and place under consideration.1 St. Anne’s late medieval cult in Northern Europe developed around a dense network of attributes that made her attractive to a wide audience. Physically, St. Anne’s sanctity stemmed from her unique role as the source of the Virgin Mary’s body, and thus the human side of the Son of God, and as a key component of the Davidic lineage of Jesus, reaching across the boundary between the Old and New Testaments. Through her own life as presented in apocryphal and medieval texts and works of art, she provided the faithful with a model of a virtuous woman (as wife, widow, mother, and grandmother) and an example of individual lay piety. As a patron saint, she was a holy protector and benefactress for both men and women.
