The Education of the Virgin

Studio of Georges de La Tour (French, 1593−1652)

Dateca. 1650

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions33 × 39 1/2 in. (83.8 × 100.3 cm)

Credit LinePurchased by The Frick Collection, 1948

Accession number1948.1.155

Commentary

The authorship of this painting has been much debated. Recent studies of the several surviving versions suggest that all may be replicas of a lost original by Georges de La Tour. Yet some scholars maintain that the Frick canvas is the original; it has been attributed to the artist’s son Étienne primarily because of the form of its signature. The painter’s striking use of light imbues the popular genre motif of St. Anne teaching her daughter to read the Bible with a hushed aura of reverence.

Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.

Collection History

Roland Robert, Nice. Knoedler (purchased a share in the picture from Rudolph Heinemann in May 1947). Frick, 1948.

Source: Paintings in The Frick Collection: French, Italian and Spanish. Volume II. New York: The Frick Collection, 1968.

Not On View

Painting Subjects: At Home Virtual Tour