Collection: Mary and Child with Sts. Anne, Gereon, and Donor

ARTIST: Museum Religious Art Classics

ARTWORK NARRATIVE:

Artist: Bartholomäus Bruyn the Elder – c. 1520

This artwork of the Blessed Virgin Mary with Child Jesus includes Sts. Anne and Gereon.

According to apocryphal Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels.

According to his legend, Gereon (called the "Golden Saint") was said to be a soldier of the Theban Legion. Gereon became a popular military saint and is often represented in art as a Roman soldier or medieval knight. Along with other saints who were beheaded, he is invoked by those suffering from migraine headaches.