REMBRANDT Harmenszoon van Rijn
(b. 1606, Leiden, d. 1669, Amsterdam)

Simeon and Anna Recognize the Lord in Jesus

c. 1629
Oil on wood, 56 x 44 cm
Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Catalogue number: Bredius 535.

According to the Gospel of St Luke, in accordance with Mosaic Law, Jesus's parents made their way to Jerusalem to present their newborn son to the Lord and offer up a pair of turtledoves as a sacrifice. A just man, Simeon, encouraged by the Holy Spirit to go to the Temple that day, took Jesus in his arms and recognized the Lord in him. Anna, a prophetess, who lived in the Temple, also began to talk of the Child "to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem".