# The Presentation at the Temple

The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is an event narrated in the Gospel of Luke. Mary and Joseph fulfill a Jewish prescription: to present their firstborn son to God.

The tradition of the Presentation at the Temple is a rite dictated by Jewish law inherited from Moses. It involves bringing every firstborn son, aged one month, to the temple to be redeemed through a sacrifice and offerings, as children are considered to belong to God.

Here, Mary, followed by Joseph, hands the infant Jesus to the elderly Simeon above a draped altar.

For the reconstruction of the missing elements, doves have been placed in Joseph's hands. These are mentioned in the biblical text and are common in the iconography of this episode.

This scene is referred to as the Theophany of Forty Days in Christian liturgy, as it occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus. Theophany is a revelation of the divine nature of Christ, witnessed here by the elderly Simeon.