Altar painting of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary in the Temple. 19th century






The altar painting is a multi-figure composition with the image of the little Virgin Mary in the centre, who should climb the stairs to the Temple. Her parents, Anna and Joachim are to the right of the Virgin Mary. The basis for painting this story is a church tradition about how parents solemnly presented Mary, the future Mother of God, into Jerusalem temple at the age of three.
The Christian feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Church has become widespread in Orthodoxy since the 9th century.