Course Readings: Web Gallery

Presentation in the Temple, Fresco, Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy (ca. 1310) by Giotto di Bondone

This scene represents an incident in the New Testament described in Luke 2:25-35. A faithful old priest in Jerusalem by the name of Simeon had received a promise from the Holy Spirit that he should not die before he set eyes upon the Savior. Soon after Christ's birth, Mary and Joseph brought the baby to the temple where Simeon was priest—thus fulfilling the promise. Simeon prophesied that "this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel."

In this painting, Christ sits in Simeon's arms and looks the old priest in the eye—but reaches for his mother to the left. Behind Mary stands Joseph, carrying a traditional offering of pigeons. A prophetess with a scroll looks around Simeon's shoulder while an angel flies overhead. The scroll points to the next scene in the fresco.