Saint Anne

Saint Anne is a Makurian wall painting estimated to have been painted between the 8th and 9th centuries, painted al secco with tempera on plaster. The anonymous work was found at the Faras Cathedral within old Nubia in Faras Wadi Halfa present-day Sudan. The painting was discovered by a Polish archaeological team during a campaign undertaken in the 1960s under the patronage of UNESCO (the Nubian Campaign) in Faras. Since 1964 the painting is in the collection of the National Museum in Warsaw. It is presented in Room VI of the Faras Gallery. The image of Saint Anne has been used as a logo of the National Museum in Warsaw. The painting in its original setting The wall painting of Saint Anne has been found in situ on the wall of the north nave, 3 metres from the floor level. It was painted on the first layer of plaster and was covered by its second layer, featuring a composition of Queen Martha. The northern nave at the Faras Cathedral may have been dedicated for women. The image of Saint Anne was not the only image of a woman presented there – this area of the Cathedral contained images of founders, saints, queens, martyrs, mothers, and healers. Many of these depictions were probably aimed at private prayer.