"The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple"

Guercino painted this work in 1623, shortly after returning to his native Cento from a two-year stay in Rome. During his time there he had seen the work of Domenichino, whose influence is apparent in the clearly defined planes and recession of space in this picture, as well as in the evenly dispersed light and vibrant use of colour. Architecture features more prominently here than in Guercino’s pre-Roman works, which are often crowded with figures tightly cropped by the picture frame (such as, for example, in The Incredulity of Saint Thomas). Guercino has used the architecture to carefully construct the space, and has paid attention to the decorative elements, including the stone steps and sculpted bas-relief on the altar.

Despite some evolution, aspects of Guercino’s early style remain. The naturalistic, aged figure of Saint Joseph in the center resembles Elijah from Guercino’s 1620 painting 'Elijah fed by Ravens.' With his aged, weathered face, Joseph presents a contrast to the young Virgin and infant Christ. His slightly disheveled appearance and simple clothing are set against the immaculately dressed high priest.

This painting is unusually large for a work on copper. Because copper was an expensive material, these pictures were typically smaller; like, for example, Guercino’s 'The Dead Christ Mourned by Two Angels.' The artist makes the most of the copper’s smooth and luminous surface, painting with great delicacy (note the ducks in the basket of the candlestick on the altar) but also attaining monumentality in the figures. Guercino used an opaque orange ground for this work which is visible in parts of the image, particularly the architecture in the upper right section of the painting.