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The panel from Dubravica shows St. Anne in the company of her three daughters born of her three marriages and her many grandchildren. It is noteworthy that none of the husbands are present. The matriarch shares her bench with the Virgin who - to emphasize the difference in age - is seated without a cushion. The figure of the Infant Jesus between them is comparatively large. Of the women only Mary is represented with flowing hair - to indicate the miracle of her lasting virginity. It is a scene that had been often depicted earlier on icons; the hieratic solemnity of those works is absent here, the arrangement of the bustling figures and the narrative motifs now giving a realistic atmosphere.
The style of the painting is unique; there is no similar work known from the mining towns around Dubravica; it is related more closely to Bavarian and Frankish art. The figures, although more crude and powerful, are reminiscent of the types seen in Hans Suess von Kulmbach's works. The restless undulation of the drapery, the luxuriant hair of the children tossed on one side, are detail known to us from pictures by followers of the Danube School but the indoor setting is wholly alien to their approach. A genuine Danube School master would have set the scene in the open air, and filled in a background of magnificent trees and mountain peaks reaching to the sky.
So many paintings originating within the early boundaries of Hungary have perished that it would be rash to conclude that no similar work has ever existed; nevertheless it does seem that this work is unique. For we know that the squires of Dubravica village, László and Márk Dubravicky, held important positions at Court during the Jagiellon dynasty, and Márk even had the title of Master of the Horse. The name John was common in the family and the emphasis on the Evangelist - in the picture the only child dressed like a grown-up, sitting at the feet of St. Anne with his attribute, the book, under his arm - was no doubt intended to draw attention to a child relative. As they moved in court circles at Buda, the Dubravickys may easily have become acquainted with a court painter and commissioned to execute this panel. This seems to be the most obvious explanation of the unusual style.
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