The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

Three generations in one group

Saint Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary, sits with Mary on her lap. Mary leans forward to take hold of the Christ child, who is clutching a lamb. Grandmother, mother and child form a single pyramid of bodies.

Leonardo worked on the painting for many years, from about 1503 until his death in 1519, and never fully finished it. He kept it with him and took it to France. It belongs to the Louvre in Paris.

Two smiling women

Anne looks down at her daughter with a gentle smile. Mary, leaning across her lap, looks at her son. The two faces are softly modelled with the hazy shading known as sfumato, and Anne appears almost as young as Mary.

The child and the lamb

The Christ child straddles a lamb, holding its head. The lamb is a traditional symbol of sacrifice, pointing to the Passion. Mary seems to pull him gently away, while Anne’s calm look suggests acceptance of what must happen. That reading comes from early descriptions of Leonardo’s design.

Mountains like a dream

Behind the figures rises a strange landscape of jagged, bluish mountains and water, fading into mist. Leonardo had studied rocks, rivers and the effect of air on distant shapes, and this background reflects that research.

At the bottom, the figures’ bare feet rest on a ledge of layered rock and pebbles, painted with geological precision.

A debated restoration

The Louvre restored the painting in 2011 and 2012, removing old yellowed varnish. The colours became much brighter. Some experts objected that the cleaning went too far, and the debate was widely reported. The painting now shows clear blues and pale flesh tones.

A project that lasted for years

The painting’s origins are linked to a commission in Florence around 1500, perhaps from the Servite friars of Santissima Annunziata or from the French king Louis XII. Leonardo made a large drawing, a cartoon, that was shown in Florence and drew crowds of admirers. A different cartoon of the same subject, the Burlington House Cartoon, is now in the National Gallery in London.

Leonardo continued working on the painted version for the rest of his life. He took it with him to France in 1516, and it was still in his studio when he died at Amboise in 1519. It later entered the French royal collection.

A pyramid of bodies

The three figures form a tight pyramid. Anne sits at the top, Mary leans diagonally across her lap, and the child pulls at the lamb below. The bodies overlap and flow into each other, as if the three generations were a single organism.

The movement runs downward and to the right: from Anne’s calm face, through Mary’s outstretched arms, to the child and the lamb. The lamb is a symbol of sacrifice, and the child’s embrace of it foretells his future Passion. Mary seems to want to hold him back, while Anne’s smile suggests acceptance.

A landscape of mountains and water

Behind the figures, blue mountains fade into mist. Leonardo used what he called aerial perspective: distant things become paler and bluer, as they do in nature because of the air between us and them. The landscape seems to stretch endlessly into the distance.

In the foreground, at the bottom of the picture, Leonardo painted pebbles and rock layers with a geologist’s precision. His notebooks show that he studied rocks and rivers closely, and that knowledge appears here.

Influence on other artists

The cartoon and the painting fascinated other artists. The young Raphael, who was in Florence in the early 1500s, studied Leonardo’s pyramidal groups and adapted them in his own Madonnas. The idea of linking figures into a single flowing form became a model for the High Renaissance.

Where to see it

The painting hangs in the Louvre in Paris, not far from the Mona Lisa. Its restoration, completed in 2012, revealed brighter colours that had been hidden under old varnish. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. For more great masterpieces, explore our top 100 most famous paintings.

Questions about the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne

Who are the figures?

Saint Anne, her daughter the Virgin Mary, and the Christ child holding a lamb.

Where is the original?

Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Is it finished?

Not entirely. Leonardo worked on it from about 1503 until his death in 1519.

What does the lamb mean?

The lamb symbolises Christ’s future sacrifice.

Is there a drawing of the same subject?

Yes. The Burlington House Cartoon in the National Gallery, London, shows a related composition.

What does the lamb mean?

It symbolises Christ’s future sacrifice.

Sources and image credit

• Louvre collections: The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne
• Wikimedia Commons: Sainte Anne

Faithful public-domain reproduction of the Virgin and Child with Saint Anne, via Wikimedia Commons. Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.