The Holy Family with Sts Anne and Joachim
by PESQUERA, Diego de, Painted and gilt wood, 158 x 106 cm
In April 1567 Pesquera was commissioned to make a retablo - an altarpiece decorated with reliefs - for a parish church in nearby Ogijares. The present relief belonged to this altarpiece. A related relief of nearly identical dimensions by the artist, Joachim and Anna before the Golden Gate, remains in situ in a three-level retablo.
The relief shows two couples, the men standing behind their seated wives - Mary and Joseph to the left and Mary’s parents, Anne and Joachim, to the right. Their glances and gestures join at the Christ Child, sprawled across Mary’s lap. The circle of hands - from Joachim’s to Christ’s to Mary’s, and back to Anne’s - connect these figures while focusing the viewer’s attention on the Child.
The name of the painters who painted the relief are not known.