Presentation of Jesus at the Temple

Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, or Presentation of the Child in the Temple, is an oil painting on oak wood painted in 1538 by the Portuguese painter Manuelino Garcia Fernandes, originally destined for the Convent of Santa Joana, in Lisbon, and which is currently at the National Art Museum Ancient, in the same city. The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple represents the eponymous biblical episode described in Luke 2:22-40. This biblical episode occupies the foreground with a remarkable representation of the offerings on the altar, the goldsmith of the tocheiro and the rich textiles. In the background is depicted the Circumcision of Jesus, which is chronologically prior to the Presentation in the Gospel accounts. The elongated space of the composition between the two scenes is also the expression of the time of the biblical narrative. Garcia Fernandes painted, presumably at the same time, another version of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple in the Altarpiece of the Trinity Monastery.