The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

Behold a rather curious family gathering, three generations in a tangle of limbs that only a master could make look graceful. Mary is awkwardly perched on the lap of her mother, Saint Anne, while she tries to pull her son, Jesus, away from a lamb. It’s a divine tug-of-war, with the lamb symbolizing Jesus's future sacrifice—a rather grim game of tag for the toddler. Mary, like any mother, wants to prevent this, but a serene Saint Anne seems to suggest it's all part of the plan, representing the Church's acceptance of Christ's destiny. The whole group is squeezed into a neat, if slightly crowded, pyramid shape, a popular compositional trick of the time. Everyone is rendered with that famously smoky, hazy "sfumato" technique, making the transitions between colors incredibly soft and giving the whole scene a dreamlike quality. The background is a dramatic, almost alien-looking mountainous landscape, which adds to the slightly surreal atmosphere. Interestingly, this complex, layered painting was likely commissioned by the King of France, Louis XII, to celebrate the birth of his daughter. For reasons unknown, however, it was never delivered and remained in the artist's workshop, unfinished, for years. So, what we see is a work that preoccupied the artist for the better part of two decades—a long time to spend on a single, albeit heavenly, family portrait.