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A crowd of people surrounds a baby sitting on a table.

A crowd is gathered in a narrow but stately cathedral, with high gray stone arches, stained glass windows, and vaulted ceilings. The crowd consists of several light-skinned figures, male and female, most wearing shades of green and red. In the middle of the crowd is a baby seated on a table with a white tablecloth. He is being held from behind by a woman in a black robe, and his arms are raised. A long white cloth is draped over his hips. A man on the right with gray hair and a gold-patterned robe reaches toward the baby.

Gallery Text

In 1496 and 1497, the daughter and son of the “Catholic Kings,” Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, wed the son and daughter of Emperor Maximilian I of Austria. This is one of eight panels from an enormous retable altarpiece for a church in Valladolid, Spain, believed to commemorate the alliance that united the kingdoms of Castile and Leon with the Holy Roman Empire.

The splendor with which this biblical scene is depicted befits the occasion. The Jewish temple where Christ is presented to the high priest Simeon has been envisioned as a Gothic cathedral, its interior adorned with heraldic devices and escutcheons. The unknown artist, likely a Spaniard active at the royal court, was clearly inspired by Netherlandish models. He excels at the depiction of costly materials and decorative details: brocade, ermine, embroidered cloth, marble, stained glass, pearls, jewels. In the background is a richly carved choir screen, with one shutter open, revealing the candlelit altar behind it.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1933.29
People
Master of the Catholic Kings, Hispano-Flemish (active c. 1485-1500)
Title
The Presentation in the Temple
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
c. 1500
Culture
Hispano-Flemish
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/231351

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2500, European Art, 13th–16th century, Art and Image in Europe
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on panel
Dimensions
157.5 x 96.5 cm (62 x 38 in.)
framed: 187 x 124.5 cm (73 5/8 x 49 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
(?)Conde de las Almenas, Madrid. [French and Company, New York, (by 1930)], sold; to Fogg Art Museum, 1933.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Francis H. Burr Memorial Fund and Anonymous Gifts
Accession Year
1933
Object Number
1933.29
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Edgar Peters Bowron, European Paintings Before 1900 in the Fogg Art Museum: A Summary Catalogue including Paintings in the Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 42, color plate; pp. 119, 370, repr. b/w cat. no. 814
  • Angelica Daneo, The Kress Collection at the Denver Art Museum, Denver Art Museum (Denver, 2011), pp. 95-99, repr. p. 97 as fig 30.(e)

Exhibition History

  • The Artistic Splendor of the Spanish Kingdoms:The Art of Fifteenth-Century Spain, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 01/19/1996 - 04/07/1996
  • 32Q: 2500 Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu