The Presentation in the Temple

Nosadella's painting depicts the episode from St. Luke's Gospel in the New Testament, where the infant Jesus is brought to the Temple in Jerusalem to be consecrated to the Lord, in accordance with Jewish tradition. The two doves (seen in the cage held by the Virgin) likely refer to the rite of the purification of the mother, which required the sacrifice of a pair of white pigeons or turtledoves. Little is known about the Bolognese painter called Nosadella whose securely documented works are limited to a few commissions for churches in Bologna.