Oil Painting, 'The Presentation in the Temple', after Paolo Veronese, late 18th century-early 19th century

The Virgin kneels on the altar-steps of the temple and presents the Child to Simeon, the high priest. Behind him is the aged prophetess Anna and at far left a female attendant carries a small cage of doves for sacrifice, numerous other figures attend the scene carrying candles or lamps

Bequeathed by Miss Margaret Coutts Trotter

Bequeathed by Miss Margaret Coutts Trotter, 1882

A label on the back of the stretcher : 'no. 1450-1882. examined by Mr. Poynter, RA. to see if suitable for transfr on loan to the National Gallery, January 1895'

A label in ink on back of frame reads:
'Presented to the South Kensington Museum by me Margaret Coutts Trotter A.D. 1881'

Also impressed on the back fo the stretcher is a mark in the shape of a crown with a 'H V' monogram (see object file)

A handwritten report by F.W. Stokes dated 29.12.1919. in object file reads: 'As to the question when the ptg has been exhibited, I do not remember having seen it hanging in the Museum: I joined the staff of the Museum May 5, 1903. Certainly the painting remained stored for many years in the crypt or in some place nearby. At some date between May 1906 and March 31.1910 it was moved with other unexhibited ptgs to the room behind the lecture theatre. There it remained till about January 4, 1918, when it was moved with the rest of the pictures stacked there , to the Crypt.
On 29.12.1919 the painting was taken out of the Old Crypt and examined. For report see no. 1450-1882 in 'Examination of Pictures'

A handwritten note in file reads:
'Received from 'stores' on 25 Nov. 1882: presumably with 6 other ptgs belonging to the same gift, viz: 1446-1992 (see Poussin, N.), 1447-1882 (see Lucatelli), 1448-1882 (see Unknown).

Historical significance: This is a reduced copy after an organ shutter of ca. 1588 painted by Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) for the Church of San Sebastiano, Venice (Oil on canvas, 490 x 190 cm). Veronese was an Italian painter and draughtsman who, together with Titian and Tintoretto, was one of the greatest painters of the late Renaissance in Venice. He is known as a supreme colourist and for his illusionistic decorations in both fresco and oil. His large paintings of biblical feasts executed for the refectories of monasteries in Venice and Verona are especially celebrated. He also produced many altarpieces, history and mythological paintings and portraits. He headed a family workshop that remained active after his death.
From 1555 Paolo was employed by the Veronese prior Bernardo Torlioni (d 1572), rector of S Sebastiano, Venice, to paint the ceiling of the church’s sacristy and nave as well as its organ shutters and altarpiece. In 1558, Paolo designed the organ and painted its external shutters with the Presentation of Christ and the internal ones with a Pool of Bethesda (1560). The Presentation represents the bringing of the infant Jesus by Mary and Joseph to the Temple in Jerusalem to be 'consecrated to the Lord.' The Jewish rite of the 'purification' of the mother was celebrated simultaneously and involved the sacrifice of doves or pigeons and incorporated a procession of candles, both of which are portrayed by Veronese. The painted and actual architecture of Paolo's organ in San Sebastiano are coordinated so that, whether the shutters are open or closed, painted architecture continues the organ’s exterior architecture in both perspective and vocabulary. The V&A's later copy omits Veronese's trompe l'oeil ceiling above the arch and unifies the composition which is spread over two doors in the original.

Organ shutters, doors or wings such as these functioned as protective cases for organs, and provided opportunities for artistic treatment, particularly during the Renaissance. The great organ, a large, complex and exclusively ecclesiastical instrument, eventually became the dominant type of organ, and was installed in a raised position in the church. In its first crude manifestation in the Romanesque period the great organ was unenclosed, but by the 14th century it too was provided with a protective case, often with shutters

Originally acquired as by Veronese, and described as a 'Circumcision of Christ' this is a late 18th-early 19th century copy of the artist's painted organ shutter in S. Sebastiano, Venice, ca. 1559.

The Virgin kneels on the altar-steps of the temple and presents the Child to Simeon, the high priest. Behind him is the aged prophetess Anna and at far left a female attendent carries a small cage of doves for sacrifice, numerous other figures attend the scene carrying candles or lamps. This is a reduced copy after an organ shutter of ca. 1588 painted by Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) for the Church of San Sebastiano, Venice. Veronese was an Italian painter and draughtsman who, together with Titian and Tintoretto, was one of the greatest painters of the late Renaissance in Venice. He is known as a supreme colourist and for his illusionistic decorations in both fresco and oil. His large paintings of biblical feasts executed for the refectories of monasteries in Venice and Verona are especially celebrated. He also produced many altarpieces, history and mythological paintings and portraits. He headed a family workshop that remained active after his death.
From 1555 Veronese was employed by the Veronese prior Bernardo Torlioni (d 1572), rector of S Sebastiano, Venice, to paint the ceiling of the church’s sacristy and nave as well as its organ shutters and altarpiece. In 1558, Paolo designed the organ and painted its external shutters with the Presentation of Christ and the internal ones with a Pool of Bethesda (1560). The Presentation represents the bringing of the infant Jesus by Mary and Joseph to the Temple in Jerusalem to be 'consecrated to the Lord.' The Jewish rite of the 'purification' of the mother was celebrated simultaneously and involved the sacrifice of doves or pigeons and incorporated a procession of candles, both of which are portrayed by Veronese. The painted and actual architecture of Paolo's organ in San Sebastiano are coordinated so that, whether the shutters are open or closed, painted architecture continues the organ’s exterior architecture in both perspective and vocabulary. The V&A's later copy omits Veronese's trompe l'oeil ceiling above the arch and unifies the composition which is spread over two doors in the original.

1450-1882