Saint Anne and Joachim with the Child Virgin Mary Lieb Ferenc

Ferenc Lieb painted frescoes and oil paintings in several castles and parish churches in Upper Hungary in the second half of the eighteenth century. Outstanding among his works is the fresco decoration of six halls in the L’Huillier–Coburg Castle in Edelény. The rococo tone of the fresco cycle featuring scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, which Lieb painted for the shrine of the parish church in Tőketerebes (today Trebišov, Slovakia), recurs in this small oil sketch as well. Here, as in the fresco, the child Virgin Mary is depicted in a dress adorned with ribbon bows, following the fashion of the time, and with flowers in her hair. In the intimate apocryphal scene, the little Virgin Mary can be seen in the company of her family: her father, Saint Joachim, is handing her to her mother, Saint Anne.