Many would think the cult of Saint Anne developed alongside the cult of the BVM, but Nixon emphasizes devotion in a specific region (Rhineland) and in a circumscribed period ca. 1480-1520. The book deals less with the controversies Immaculate Conception than one might think, and with Nixon as art historian, we get more than our fair share of surviving artwork from the period, centered on the figure of the Anna Selbsdritt. The book is redundant in numerous places, and a bit shorter than a monograph one might expect on such a rich topic. Compare with the Ashley and Sheingorn book "Interpreting Cultural Symbols".