The scene takes place in the Jerusalem Temple. The
Prophet Simeon is shown standing on the right-side of the panel receiving the
Christ-child from the arms of the Virgin, who stands opposite St Simeon. Behind
Mary we see St Anna the Prophetess and St Joseph.
The event from the early life is Christ is based on
the biblical narrative recorded in the Gospel of Luke:
And,
behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man
was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should
not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit
into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him
after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God,
and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy
word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before
the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy
people Israel. (2:25-32)
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple is one of the
‘great feasts’ of the Orthodox liturgical calendar (February 14th). The feast
originates from ancient times and is known from at least the fourth century.
Its iconographic representation was fully established by the ninth century. The
prominence given to St Simeon stems from some ancient liturgical texts where he
is described as ‘the greatest of the prophets: more even than Moses “he who has
seen God”
A work of exceptional quality by a master painter,
possibly from Palekh or from the icon painting workshop at Troitsa-Sergeieva
Lavra. The architecture, treated in a
dream-like fantastical way, obeys geometrical principles that distance us from
the three-dimensional world and suggest the ecstatic vision of the divine and
multi-dimensional world. The architectural elements, with a veil hanging
between them, symbolise what the Philokalia calls ‘the house of
spiritual architecture’.[1]
[1] The
Philokalia is an anthology of mystical writings of the desert fathers and later
the Athos fathers from the 4th – 14th centuries. See
Kadloubovsky and Palmer, Writings from
the Philokalia on Prayer of the Heart London, 1961) and Early Fathers from the Philiokalia
(London 1964).