The Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple 1590 - 1646

Belisario Corenzio, a Greek-Italian painter, rendered this drawing in ink and wash. We see the Virgin Mary being presented at the temple, a common subject of religious art in the 16th and 17th centuries. But what does it mean for the social role of art that the Virgin is presented here as a child rather than a fully formed woman? The setting of the temple gives her an elevated, public role. The beggar and the architectural structure of the temple stairs remind us of the class structures of renaissance Italy, subtly critiquing the institutions of the Catholic church. In understanding a drawing such as this, the historian looks at how the image creates meaning through its visual codes. What can we discover from the archives about the social conditions that might have shaped its artistic production? Research into Corenzio's life and the norms of Neapolitan society would help us to understand the politics of the imagery on display here.