The Naming of Jesus / Circumcision

The scene represents the Child Jesus’ circumcision at the Temple. His mother Mary takes her child to the temple eight days after his birth (a Jewish tradition) for the High Priest to perform the circumcision. The painting depicts not the actual moment of the circumcision but the following one, when Jesus receives his name, a subtle transition scene clarified by the bespectacled figure standing on the right hand side, holding a paper and looking up at the emblem of Christ, which two angels hold above. The painting iconographic discourse shows affinities with the central painting for the altarpiece of the former jesuit Professed House of Seville (Today the Church of the Annunciation) – a large canvas dating from 1604 to 1606, attributed to Juan de Roelas.