The frescoes that covered the walls of churches were true story boards thanks to which the illiterate faithful learned of events they could not read about in texts.
Altarpieces fulfilled the same purpose and constitute a beautiful graphic chronicleof the times.
In this panel St. Anne, Mary’s mother, rests in a canopy bed that occupies the centre of the room. St Joaquim, the only male figure, joins his hands together to give thanks to heaven for the arrival of this baby girl.
The artist sought to reflect the marital status of the women through the head covering, as the married women wear their hair covered with some sort of headdress and only the single woman in the picture allows her hair to be seen.