Presentation of Christ in the Temple

Painted on a poplar panel in 1516, this work bears an inscription on its lowest step confirming the date and noting the artist was formerly a novice in the chapel. It was most likely commissioned by Pope Leo X for the Epiphany of 1516 and originally installed in the novices' chapel of the San Marco basilica in Florence. In 1781, Grand Duke Leopold I selected the painting for the Uffizi Tribuna, compensating the monks with a copy, a crucifix, silver chalices, and furniture.

Two years later, in 1792, the artwork was exchanged for a group of other works with the Vienna Museum. Several ancient copies and a probable autograph sketch currently held in the Treccani Collection in Milan are also associated with the piece.

The work is held by the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, where it is catalogued under inventory number KH 1277. It entered the museum in 1792 through an exchange that originated from a 1781 selection by Grand Duke Leopold I for the Tribuna of the Uffizi, as documented in the museum's provenance record. The painting measures 155 cm by 159 cm and is displayed in the main collection, with its exhibition history including the 1781 Uffizi display and the subsequent 1792 transfer to Vienna.

The painting Presentation of Christ in the Temple (1516) is a seminal example of Fra Bartolomeo's mature style and a defining work of the High Renaissance San Marco school. Executed in oil on poplar panel, it depicts the biblical moment of Jesus' presentation in the Jerusalem Temple, as recounted in Luke 2, with Simeon, Mary, Joseph, and the prophetess Anna arranged around a classical altar. The work's compositional balance, rich color, and monumental figures exemplify the painter's synthesis of devotional narrative and classical clarity.

Originally commissioned likely by Pope Leo X for the novices' chapel of San Marco in Florence, it later entered the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna through exchanges in 1781 and 1792, where it remains on display.

Scholarship emphasizes its role as a visual embodiment of contemporary religious practice and papal patronage, while its provenance reflects broader patterns of art collection in late 18th-century Europe. The painting's inscription, '1516 ORATE PRO PICTORE OLIM SACELLI HUIUS NOVITIO,' confirms its original devotional context and provides a rare documentary link to its creation.

Fra Bartolomeo’s Presentation of Christ in the Temple is an oil painting on wood measuring roughly a modest panel size. Executed in 1516, the work depicts a small group gathered around the infant Jesus within an interior space, rendered with a calm, balanced composition that guides the viewer’s eye toward the central figure of the child.