Until 1941 this altarpiece adorned the altar of the chapel in Loka Castle in Škofja Loka, after which it is believed to have found safe shelter for the rest of the war with the Ursuline nuns at Heimann’s Castle (Ajmanov grad) near Sveti Duh, not far from Škofja Loka. The notable painting may have been commissioned by Baron Rudolf Ferdinand Josef von Halden (1727–1752), the administrator of the Bischoflack (Škofja Loka) estate, who resided in Loka Castle. The Zanetti family – Venetian merchants who had settled in Škofja Loka – probably acted as intermediaries in the commissioning of the painting, since they were closely related to the great Venetian art collector and connoisseur Anton Maria Zanetti di Girolamo (aka Anton Maria Zanetti the Elder) (1680–1757), who was friendly with many Venetian painters, including Fontebasso (who even drew a caricature of him). He was also one of Fontebasso’s principal promoters and, a mere year before the Škofja Loka commission, had recommended him to Carl Gustaf Tessin, a Swedish count.

The story from the Virgin Mary’s childhood represented by the painting is taken from the apocryphal Gospels and emphasises the theme of Mary’s education. The young Mary’s full attention is focused on the book on her mother’s lap, while St Anne herself gazes in ecstatic contemplation at the angelic choir in the heavens. St Joachim stands beside them and directs their attention towards the viewer with a gesture.

A similar effect can be observed in Fontebasso’s contemporaneous painting St Lawrence Justinian, St Leonard and Other Saints in the chapel of the Cornaro family in the church of San Salvador in Venice: by gesturing slightly to his right, St Nicholas heightens the illusion of depth in the painting. The painter used an almost identical pavement in the slightly older drawing Dinner at the House of the Pharisee, while compositionally related figures may also be found in other works by Fontebasso. A drawing by Fontebasso that recently appeared in the international art market can be directly linked to the Škofja Loka altarpiece.