Christ in the Sanctuary
unknown
Basic information
- ID
- Ж-2426
- Author
- unknown
- Name
- Christ in the Sanctuary
- Technique
- oil painting
- Material
- wood oil
- Dimensions
- 37.3 x 32.2 cm (height x width)
Additionally
- Type
- painting
- Genre
- religious
- Plot
- Jesus Christ The Circumcision of Christ
- Provenance
- Collection of Lviv City Gallery
- Exposition
- Potocki Palace
Information about author
Object description
The theme of the Circumcision of Jesus is an iconographic rarity in European painting, and even more so in Ukrainian art.
The artwork features a conventionally rendered interior of the Temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem. In the foreground, the Virgin Mary stands before an elevated platform sheltered by a baldaquin on columns. Upon it, a priest in liturgical vestments and headdress holds the newborn Jesus. He is preparing to perform the rite of circumcision, which, according to Jewish law, is performed on all boys on the eighth day after birth. In this manner, they are consecrated to the Lord God, to whom all firstborn belong – from the harvest and livestock to human beings.
To the right, behind the shoulder of the Mother of God, is the figure of the aged Simeon, to whom the Lord gave a promise that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. According to tradition, this wait lasted for as many as 374 years. From behind the priest's back, the elderly prophetess Anna gazes admiringly at Jesus – a widow who served at the temple, "praised the Lord and spoke of Him to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem". The head of Saint Joseph is visible between the Virgin Mary and the priest. In the lower right corner, an acolyte boy is depicted with a thurible.
The artwork features a conventionally rendered interior of the Temple of King Solomon in Jerusalem. In the foreground, the Virgin Mary stands before an elevated platform sheltered by a baldaquin on columns. Upon it, a priest in liturgical vestments and headdress holds the newborn Jesus. He is preparing to perform the rite of circumcision, which, according to Jewish law, is performed on all boys on the eighth day after birth. In this manner, they are consecrated to the Lord God, to whom all firstborn belong – from the harvest and livestock to human beings.
To the right, behind the shoulder of the Mother of God, is the figure of the aged Simeon, to whom the Lord gave a promise that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. According to tradition, this wait lasted for as many as 374 years. From behind the priest's back, the elderly prophetess Anna gazes admiringly at Jesus – a widow who served at the temple, "praised the Lord and spoke of Him to all who looked for redemption in Jerusalem". The head of Saint Joseph is visible between the Virgin Mary and the priest. In the lower right corner, an acolyte boy is depicted with a thurible.
Legal regulation
Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery
