This painting by an unknown author represents the father of the Virgin Mary, who looks up into heaven with his hands on his heart, from which a lily branch springs that ascends diagonally upward. Beyond the eyes the monogram of the Virgin is also seen. His stately dress, painted in red, blue and white shades, barely shows details, which contrasts with the saint´s hands and face, represented with sufficient precision to depict the wrinkles and veins of the old man.

The author Francisco Pacheco, in his notes on iconography, indicates that Saint Joachim was represented with his wife, and must have been painted with 68 years of age, "... although Saint Anne was younger, beautiful and venerable in purpose, old, and what is most true, the blood was dead and the natural color cold”.[1]

The New Spain painter, however, used warm shades for the incarnations, which show a kind emotion. It is probable that the painting was a part of a set of works, as there are plenty of examples from the eighteenth century, in which Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, as if mirrored, turn toward the center while lilies spring from their chests, symbols of purity, which culminate in a flower from which the Immaculate Conception appears in a third canvas.

The painting of the Viceregal collection gives of a more intimate type of devotion that represents Mary´s nuclear family, praising the purity of the Virgin. The blue of the background presents two shades, which denotes that the work was at one time framed in an oval shape to cover its corners, which had a different deterioration.

The disgregation of the works that must have formed the set, was very common in New Spain painting, and implies a transformation of their use. In this case, it has lost its deepest religious sense, for although Saint Joachim can be venerated alone, it was infinitely more common for him to be seen as a part of the family group. The painting, however, denotes serenity and intimacy, which makes it a very clear example of the models of eighteenth century painting.

[1]. Francisco Pacheco, El arte de la pintura, Edicion, introduccion y notas de Bonaventura Bassegoda i Hugas, Madrid, Catedra, 1990, [1649], page 572.