The Presentation in the Temple

This relief shows a scene from the Bible called The Presentation in the Temple. The Christ Child stands on the altar. The elderly Simeon holds him fondly, while the young Virgin looks on. Joseph stands behind her, holding the basket containing the sacrificial turtle-doves. At the back the prophetess Anna looks on. She is wearing a turban-like headdress and is flanked by two attendants.

A workshop in the North Netherlands probably made this relief around 1500-1520. It probably also made its companion relief with scenes depicting The Adoration of the Magi (Museum no. 96-1891). Both of these would have originally been part of a larger sequence of pictures within an altarpiece.