Q:

Can a figure tag contain an anchor tag wrapping the image? 

I am trying to create a figure tag that has inside an anchor tag wrapping the image.  I was wondering if that structure is legal or not.  Here is the code showing how I want it to work. 
<figure>
   <a href="/my-picture">
       <img src="img/picture.jpg" alt="My picture">
   </a>
   <figcaption>
       My picture
   </figcaption>
</figure>

A:

Validator says it's proper structure, so yes.  
When it comes to semantic I don't see any problem, however always remember that in HTML5 you can wrap whole figure in a link which might be of use as in most of the case you want to wrap description also.  
I used this to validate:
<! DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>a</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <figure>
      <a href="/my-picture">
        <img src="img/picture.jpg" alt="My picture">
      </a>
      <figcaption>
        My picture
      </figcaption>
    </figure>
  </body>
</html>

