Presentation at the Temple

Presentation in the Temple
Artist: Giovanni Bellini; Tempera on panel; Size: 80x105 cm; Galleria Querini Stampalia, Venice.

According to St. Luke's Gospel, once the time of purification was over, Jesus was presented at the temple in Jerusalem for the ritual sacrifice, as prescribed by Jewish law. At the temple Simeon and Anna recognized the Child as the Messiah.
Giovanni Bellini painted Presentation in the Temple at the end of the 1460s, the work is an almost exact copy of a picture of the same subject executed not long before by Andrea Mantegna. The figures in the painting have traditionally been identified as members of the artist's family, with the last on the right a self-portrait and the woman on the left a portrait of his mother. In comparison with Mantegna's composition, enclosed on all four sides by a marble frame, Bellini's art work has more relaxed rhythms, with the figures arranged behind a broad parapet. The greater attention paid to effects of light and the search for a warm coloring open to atmospheric effects, still discernible today from the best-preserved parts such as the priest's cowl, reflect the artistic maturity that had been attained by the young Bellini.