Master of the Fuessener Altarpiece, or his Circle
Education of the Virgin

Circa 1460-70
Polychrome and gilded wood
Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC. Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. David E. Finley

This is an early example of a subgenre in which Anne teaches Mary to read. It has echoes of other types. Anne points to Mary (or more precisely, to Mary's womb) in the same way Mary points to her child in Hodegetria images. Mary holds her right hand in the blessing configuration, as Christ does in so many of his portraits.

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Photographed at the museum by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.