Philadelphia Museum of Art - Collections Object : Purification of the Virgin

Purification of the Virgin

Predella panel from the altarpiece from the Compagnia di Santa Maria della Purificazione e di San Zanobi, Florence, contracted October 23, 1461; the main panels from the altarpiece are in the National Gallery, London (283); companion predella panels are in the collection of Queen Elizabeth II (132); the Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan (475); the Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Preussischer Kulturbesitz (60c); and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1086)

Benozzo Gozzoli (Benozzo di Lese di Sandro), Italian (active Florence and Pistoia), born c. 1421/22, died 1497

Geography:
Made in Florence, Italy, Europe

Date:
1461-62

Medium:
Tempera and tooled gold on panel with horizontal grain

Dimensions:
9 3/4 x 14 5/16 inches (24.8 x 36.4 cm)

Curatorial Department:
European Painting before 1900, Johnson Collection

Object Location:

Currently not on view

Accession Number:
Cat. 38

Credit Line:
John G. Johnson Collection, 1917

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This painting features both the presentation of the baby Jesus to the elders in the temple and the purification of the Virgin in which, following Jewish tradition, an offering––in this case the turtle doves held by Joseph––was made to the temple after a woman gave birth. These two events were celebrated as a mid-winter festival marked by the distribution of candles and candlelit processions.

This picture comes from an altarpiece of a boys’ club that was dedicated to the religious feast of the Purification. The club, which was sponsored by the Medici family who dominated Florence’s politics, met in the convent of San Marco, also built by the Medici. The architecture in the painting sets the scene in the convent’s church, although the events took place in Jerusalem.