Painted in 1606, this image of the young Virgin Mary and Jesus as a boy together crushing the head of the serpent is an excellent example of tenebrism. Caravaggio was a master of using this technique of balancing light and darkness to create a dramatic focal point in his paintings. The elderly St. Anne, Mary's mother, looks on half in shadow while her daughter is in both brilliant light and almost-total darkness. Only the young Jesus is fully illuminated as his little foot boldly stands on his mother's as she concentrates on crushing the snake.
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