ΒΧΜ

The interior of the temple is defined by the side wall in the background, the entrance - tower at the right and the sancturay at the left. The coloured marble and the bright red on the curtains and clothing lend brilliance to the ritual of the dedication of the young Virgin in the temple. At the head of the procession, Joachim and Anne piously present Mary to the high priest. The aged parents are followed by the dense crowd daughters of the Jews, carrying lighted torches. At the left, seated on the highest step of the sanctuary, Mary converses with the angel who brings her the bread, in the miniature episode that sums up her sojourn of many years in the temple of the Lord. The icon, the only large signed icon by the painter that has a complex narrative subject, dating from about the middle of the 15th c. adheres to iconographic models of the Constantinopolitan tradition, and crystallises the type that was widely disseminated by following generations of painters.