The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Artist: Guercino (Italian, 1591 - 1666)

Original Dimensions: 28 1/2" x 25 5/8"

Location: National Gallery of Art, London

About Artwork: (1623) "Forty days after his birth, Mary and Joseph brought the infant Christ to the Temple in Jerusalem. According to Jewish custom, all first-born male children were to be taken to the Temple to be presented to God in a ceremony that involved the sacrifice of two doves or pigeons, visible here at the foot of the altar. The elderly seated figure is the high priest Simeon. The Gospel of Luke says that the Holy Ghost had told Simeon he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Guercino portrays the moments preceding the story’s climax, as the aged Simeon is about to hold Christ and, in recognising him, fulfil his destiny. This work was painted for Bartolomeo Fabri, one of Guercino’s early patrons, who lived in the artist’s native Cento. It was returned to Guercino in settlement of a debt, and he kept it by his bedside until he was eventually persuaded to sell it in 1660." - (National Gallery of Art, London)