The Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple,
Painted by Titian (1499-1576),
Oil on canvas mounted on wall,
Painted Circa 1534-38
© Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice
The Presentation of the Virgin at the Temple,
Painted by Titian (1499-1576),
Oil on canvas mounted on wall,
Painted Circa 1534-38
© Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice
Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Luke 19:1-10
Jesus entered Jericho and was going through the town when a man whose name was Zacchaeus made his appearance: he was one of the senior tax collectors and a wealthy man. He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was, but he was too short and could not see him for the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way. When Jesus reached the spot he looked up and spoke to him: ‘Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.’ And he hurried down and welcomed him joyfully. They all complained when they saw what was happening. ‘He has gone to stay at a sinner’s house’ they said. But Zacchaeus stood his ground and said to the Lord, ‘Look, sir, I am going to give half my property to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody I will pay him back four times the amount.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham; for the Son of Man has come to seek out and save what was lost.’
Reflection on the Wall Painting
The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary which we celebrate today commemorates the presentation of the Our Lady as a child by her parents (Saints Joachim and Anne) in the temple in Jerusalem. According to an apocryphal gospel usually called The Protoevangelium of James, before Mary's birth her parents received a heavenly message that they would bear a child. In thanksgiving for this gift from God, they brought Mary to the Temple to consecrate their only daughter to the Lord. The celebration of today's feast is first documented in the 11th century within the Byzantine Catholic Church.
One of the most endearing representations of the Presentation of Our Lady is Titian's wall-painting at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Venice. It depicts the three-year-old Mary walking up the steps into the temple. We see a little girl, painted full of confidence. She has just walked up some steps and she looks tiny in a vast world around her filled with officials in lavish dress. The fragile, diminutive figure of Mary walks up the steps, her right hand managing her skirt while her left hand returns the greeting of the High Priest. Another lovely detail is that Mary is given a full-size aureola (the radiance of a luminous cloud surrounding the whole figure), rather than just a halo (which consists of a circle of light shown around or above the head of a saint or holy person to represent their holiness).
We seldom think of Mary as a child. All the images of Mary we see depicted in art throughout the ages, depict Mary as an adult, often holding the child Jesus, or of Mary in heavenly glory. Yet, when we are first introduced to Mary in the gospels at the moment of her annunciation, we should probably think of her as a very young woman. She must have grown up as a child in a very faith-filled home. Otherwise she would not have emerged as a woman of such strong and generous faith at the time of the annunciation. Today’s feast celebrates the fact that as a very young child Mary’s parents presented her to the Lord in the Temple. They gave her over to the Lord’s purpose for her life. It was as if her parents were saying, ‘Lord here is our child. We know that she belongs to you more than she belongs to us’. Mary’s parents were recognising that her relationship with God was even more significant that her relationship with them. Today’s feast reminds us that the most important relationship in our lives is indeed our relationship with God.
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Me gustaría comentar también el evangelio de hoy: Zaqueo me resulta un personaje simpático. Es gracioso que tenga que subirse a un sicomoro para ver a Jesús. Me imagino a un hombre adulto con sus ropas caras (era rico) corriendo, subiéndose al árbol y luego colgado de una rama.
No sabemos si este relato fue real o inventado , pero me hace pensar que el Jesús histórico fue un buen contador de historias amenas y divertidas. Aunque nunca diga el evangelio que sonriera o riera.
Sin embargo, en este relato hay que suponer más cosas de las que dice:
– ¿Por qué Zaqueo tiene tanto interés en conocer a Jesús, aunque sea de lejos?
– ¿Cómo es que Jesús conoce el nombre de Zaqueo?
– ¿Cómo tiene Jesús tanta confianza para invitarse a su casa?
– ¿Qué hablaron Jesús y Zaqueo para que éste le hiciera una promesa tan radical (devolver tanto dinero)?
Good questions, Elvira. I can imagine answers to all, as I’m sure you can, too. I’m off the hook, though, as I have to go out tonight! All the best 🌻
Nuestro Bautismo cuando recién nacidos y niños se ha debido a la Pura Gracia de Dios que siempre cuenta con el hombre para ello: Nuestro ser necesitado de Él y nuestros padres y padrinos llevándonos al Sacramento. Veo a San Joaquín y Santa Ana llevándonos a la Virgen Niña presentándonos.
La Niña que se estremeció con nosotros por el agua ahora nos alimenta como Madre y nos aguarda como nuestra Reina.
Dice el Protopevangelio de Santiago: Cuando la niña cumplió tres años, Joaquín dijo: llamad a las niñas hebreas y que cada una lleve una lámpara que no se apague. La niña no deberá volver la mirada y su corazón solo se fijará en el Templo del Señor. La Virgen pequeñita subió sola las gradas con paso firme y seguro. El sacerdote acogió a la niña y la hizo sentar en la tercera grada del altar, el Señor hizo descender sobre ella su gracia. Y se levantó y se puso a bailar frente a toda la Casa de Israel. Los padres volvieron del Templo llenos de admiración y alabanzas al Señor. La niña no había vuelto la cabeza. María habitaba en el Templo del Señor como una paloma.
Este es el relato que fundamenta el cuadro tan delicioso que se nos propone hoy
Y es también, este relato sobre
el misterio de la Presentación´ es la clave de la vida religiosa de clausura, presente en nuestra Iglesia desde hace siglos: María se siente elegida, se sabe ofrecida a Dios, se sabe al servicio de Dios, y está enamorada de DiosRecemos hoy por los religiosos de clausura, hombres y mujeres, que sirven a la Iglesia en contemplación y en oración
PD. Esta tarde una sobrina mía entra en la clausura del Carmelo de Madrid 🙏
Es muy interesante esta historia como clave de la vida religiosa de la clausura. Gracias, Elvira, y felicidades a vuestra sobrina en ocasión de su entrada en la clausura de Carmelo, un acontecimiento importantissimo para toda la familia. 🙏🌺
Gracias Noelle. Somos bendecidos: tenemos quien reza por nosotros
Estoy feliz por ustedes. 🙏
Titian was one of the most important. painters of the first three-quarters of the 16C. He was a master of large-scale paintings, several for churches in Venice, and is famous for his use of glowing colours.
He places the child Mary in a magnificent setting in which she is a tiny figure, yet almost every person in the crowds is turned towards her. Our Lady is often depicted in royal blue, here she is dressed in pale blue, the epitome of a sweet young girl. Curious is the rather masculine “crone” in the foreground, with her basket of eggs. Eggs often represent fertility, so perhaps are a foretelling of Mary’s role as Mother of our Saviour. Though this event in Mary’s life is supposedly apocryphal, it emphasises the complete holiness of Mary’s character, without stain.
There’s no obvious connection between this painting and the story of Zaccheus. What wonderful detail: that he was too short to see what was going on, and he climbed a sycamore tree – a wealthy man climbing a tree! Then welcoming the Saviour of the world to dinner, giving away half his wealth, and making four-fold reparation to those he had cheated – quite a day!
Both Mary and Zaccheus were recognising their destiny, to be involved with our Saviour, and to be obedient to their calling. May we, too, be obedient to our calling, today and in the days ahead. Whatever it is and wherever we are. Amen.
Thank you Noelle for making a connection between Mary and Zacchaeus. This may be a stretch, but the architecture in the Titian (and perhaps the weapon in the central background) is a reminder of Roman control, just as Zacchaeus collected taxes for Rome.
Afternoon, Mark. It was a bit of a stretch, so thanks for fleshing it out….ATB🌻
Yes Noelle, THANKS re: your statement/ query “No obvious connection to the Gospel ‘today'” …and your nice default to Mary and Zaccheus’s shared recognition of destiny/obedience.
But in fact the proper Gospel reading for today’s Memorial, Mat. 12:46-50, may be seem even ‘less a connection’, if not rather ‘adverse’ to the feast. At least it isn’t Luke’s rather more curt and abrasive rendition “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word and act on it” – full stop!
And so we must ask why the Church has chosen such a reading?
But let us consider a li’l deeper.
In fact we know the Church from its beginnings has highly revered, not only the epic role that the ‘Ever Blessed Virgin Mary’ plays in God’s plan of Salvation, shall we say at the familial level, but also at the profoundly prophetic level. Indeed we can easily see that She is not only a personification of the ‘new Eve’ … but also of the ‘Holy CHILD Wisdom who ‘played before God’ as He created creation itself (Prov. 8:17-31). St Maximilian will go on to even more sublimely note that in Her ultimate destiny, (she as ‘US’, we her children) as “Spouse of the Holy Spirit”; and we then link to “The Wedding Feast of the Lamb” – creation’s ultimate eschatological destiny.
I’ve done a search to see if any commentary gives the more than obvious reason why the early Church (The Gospel of James), even in the 6th c. was already making this connection of the BVM’s dedication Via “Saint Mary the New Basilica, near the site of the ruined Temple in Jerusalem” (Wikipedia). Interestingly no one makes the connection to ‘Hanna’s ( from where ‘James got Anna, Mary’s Mother) dedication of Samuel to the Temple … from whence comes Mary’s Magnificat (1 Sam. 2:1-10).
I think Titian got it. We see the rather ‘oddly placed church steeple’ in the background holding aloof the silver sphere that represents the celestial orientation/star of Bethlehem – telling of the child’s destine fertility. Could the ancient egg seller – the fertility of the Universe-womb – who’s head tops out at the 7th step of creation, be offering us the ‘backward’ view. While the Holy Child Wisdom stands confidently atop the 8th step/day, She who will give birth to God. And yet She too is seen linking the 5 steps of the Pentateuch … and is that the High priest Eli with the gem studded ephod ?
Regardless, no one better embodies ‘divine human family-hood’, ‘ACTION’ and acquiescence to God’s Word, “Let it there be … “, by reciprocating “…done to me according to your Word’ … whereupon the Holy Spirit Himself conceives the second person of the Triune God in Her.
Thank you, Will, for your in-depth meditation, which is also rather poetic….
Yes Fr Will. Indeed this feast day emerged in the early church because of the growing devotion to Our Lady. I read a bit about this and practically nothing is known of Mary’s early life although the parental names Joachim and Anna, seem to be well founded. However, we do know that as a devout Jewish couple, this presentation would have undoubtedly occurred.
Oddly enough, I was listening to the great writer Hilary Mantel speaking about her favourite subject – Thomas Cromwell. She said she sticks to the known facts but builds a bigger picture with what could have, or even what most likely would have happened. I think that is probably true here.
The peerless Hilary Mantel! Her methods certainly work for me, we learn such a lot through her exercise of the imagination.
Thank you Noelle for reflection in tying the reading and the painting together.
A mi me cae muy bien Zaqueo. Y es un evangelio delicioso para reflexionar con niños y jóvenes
I like the gospel very much. Zaccheus is described by Christ as a son of Abraham – that shows me once again that His mission was to His own people – Jesus states this repeatedly. Luckily, we are the ones on the highways and byways, who were latterly invited to the wedding feast after the original invited guests turned the offer down.
This painting is deeply moving. I’m surprised this Subject is not more popular in art. BTW can anyone explain to me what is the Byzantine Catholic Church? I’ve only heard of the Byzantine Orthodox Church.
There are several eastrn rite catholic churches in communion with rome. They are Catholic but have retained their ‘orthodox’ services. If you google Eastern Rite Catholics you will find them listed.
There is a Byzantine Catholic Church not far from where I live. The iconography in the church is beautiful and they were all written by the pastor of the church.
I love this painting. The detail is wonderful but the confident moving forward of Mary holds the eye. Her heartfelt response to the Lord never faltered. Mary mother, sister pray for us
This painting rouches me deeply. The little figure of Mary, het hair in a plait on her back, full of confidence between all those people.
Lord, thank you for Mary, our Mother in heaven. It is so comforting to have a pair of Motherarms in heaven, in which we can take shelter in times when our life is unbearable.
The gospelreading always makes me smile. Zacheus, so clever to climb a tree to see Jesus and Jesus calling him so kindly and loving. I am sure Jesus calls us as kindly and loving as then.
A blessed day for you all!
Thank you, Rya, and to you. 🌻