Purification of the Virgin

Gallery 309, European Art 1100-1500, third floor

Main Building

Purification of the Virgin

1461-1462

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

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.

Gallery 309, European Art 1100-1500, third floor

Object Details

Title:

Purification of the Virgin

Date:

1461-1462

Artist:

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

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)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

John G. Johnson Collection, 1917

Accession Number:

Cat. 38

Geography:

Made in Florence, Italy, Europe

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Gallery 309, European Art 1100-1500, third floor

Main Building

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