In the title Schiff base, C21H14N4O4, the dihedral angle between the two nitro groups and the central benzene ring are 83.6 (5) and 2.6 (6)°. The anthracene ring system and the benzene ring make a dihedral angle of 0.7 (2)°. Intra-molecular N-H⋯O and C-H⋯N hydrogen bonds occur. In the crystal, C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules, forming chains along the b-axis direction.