Saint Anne Altarpiece

The artwork

At the foot of the throne, in a small roundel, a procession of trumpeters and fifers marches past, recalling the expulsion of the Duke of Athens from Florence on 26 July, Saint Anne's day. It comes printed on handmade Amalfi paper, in a handmade frame.

• The Madonna with the Child and Saint Anne behind her, among four saints.
• An altarpiece rich in figures that gives presence to a living-room wall.
• A gift for anyone who loves Florence and its stories.

Pontormo painted it between 1527 and 1529 for the church of the Benedictine convent of Sant'Anna in Verzaia, in Florence. Around the Madonna he placed Saint Sebastian, Saint Peter, Saint Benedict and the Good Thief, the repentant thief crucified beside Christ.

The Duke of Athens had been driven out in 1343, almost two centuries earlier, and the procession in the roundel carried its memory into the church dedicated to the saint of that day.

In 1811 the panel was requisitioned under Napoleon, in 1814 it entered the Louvre and it never returned to Italy. Today it hangs in the museum's Grande Galerie, and in 2012 the Louvre showed it in the exhibition devoted to Leonardo's Saint Anne.

In an entrance hall or a room with a high ceiling, its tall, slender shape finds the right place. You can give it to a grandmother, or to an Anne on 26 July, her name day.

Unique quality material

Print on handmade Amalfi paper
Sheet size: 40 x 60 cm (15.7 x 23.6 in)
Framed size: 42 x 62 cm (16.5 x 24.4 in)
Material: artwork printed on very fine handmade Amalfi paper with deckled edges
Frame: dark brown with a gold fillet, handmade, with glass