Reading Devotions to Grandfather

Completed in 1893 and held at the Kunstmuseum Bern, this canvas depicts an intimate domestic scene that carried particular meaning in the culture Anker documented: an elderly man having devotional texts read aloud to him by a young member of the household. In late nineteenth-century Swiss rural communities, literacy was not universal among the oldest generation, and the practice of reading scripture or devotional literature aloud to elderly relatives maintained religious practice while also constituting a form of intergenerational care. Anker, himself the son of a minister and profoundly shaped by Reformed Protestant values, returned to themes of piety and family duty repeatedly. The scene also resonates with his broader interest in the relationship between age and youth — a pairing he explored in numerous forms throughout his career. The Kunstmuseum Bern's acquisition situates this among Anker's most institutionally recognised works, consistent with the national museum's sustained commitment to preserving the fullest possible record of his output.

Anker stages the scene with his characteristic careful management of light: reading required adequate illumination, and the direction of light across the open book and the faces of both figures becomes a compositional anchor. The contrast between the elderly man's weathered face and the child's smooth skin is modelled with particular attention, as both figures require individuated physiognomic treatment.