The Virgin Mary’s parents take their places in the two side apses, with St. Joachim on the left and St. Anne on the right. The story of St Anne is mentioned in the Apocryphal Gospels Protoevangelium of James and Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, as well as in some hagiographic texts. According to the story, Anne married Joachim at a mature age. The two had had no children, but while the man was in the desert with a group of shepherds, an angel appeared to both of them and announced their future conception. Anne and Joachim, with little Mary, lived in Jerusalem.
