The article concentrates on two Finnish medievalists, Carl Axel Nordman (1892–1972) and Olga Alice Nygren (1898–1981), and their interpretations of a late-medieval polychrome wood sculpture depicting the crowned Saint Anne with the Virgin and Child. The former was a distinguished scholar and State Antiquarian, whereas the latter was a relatively unnoticed art historian and remains so. Nordman s interpretation relied on the role of the carver master, whereas that of Nygren was based on the cult of St Anne. In addition to drawing scholarly attention to one little-known, but iconographically interesting medieval sculpture, this article sheds light on the subtle mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion which underlie the construction of professional careers in the field of art history.