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The panel depicting the Marriage of the Virgin originally formed part of the high altarpiece painted by Bemardo Daddi during the 1330s for the church of San Pancrazio, Florence. Nearly all of the remaining parts of the altarpiece are preserved in the Uffizi, Florence. The predella comprises scenes from the early life of the Virgin, of which the present panel is the sixth in the narrative sequence. The exact circumstances by which this single panel from the predella became detached are not known. It is notable that all the predella panels still attached to the altarpiece in the Uffizi have rounded tops set into cusped frames, which indicates that The Marriage of the Virgin has been fairly extensively cut at the top. Each of the other predella panels measures 50 x 38,5 cm.
The textual sources for The Marriage of the Virgin are the apocryphal Book of James (or Protoevangelicum), known as the Infancy Gospel, 8-9, or, alternatively, The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine. According to these sources, each of the suitors for the hand of the Virgin brought a rod to the Temple to be placed on the altar. Of these it is Joseph's rod that flowers and onto which the Holy Spirit descends, thus indicating that he has been chosen to marry the Virgin. In Daddi's panel the dove can be seen perched on the top of Joseph's rod while the disappointed suitors break their rods over their knees as the marriage takes place.
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