The twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple

Around 1652, Giordano was in Rome for the first time. "The twelve-yearold Jesus in the Temple", from which this workshop version was made, is dated 1653, and is now in the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica in Rome (inv. no. 394). It depicts an episode from the life of the adolescent Jesus. After attending the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem, he does not return home with the group of pilgrims. Three days later, his parents find him in the temple there amongst the elders. In the painting, Jesus sits on the top step, on a cushion under a canopy. He is thus enthroned above the elders, who derive their wisdom only from the books they hold. This episode links Jesus’ separation from his parental home with his acceptance of his mission.

Ducke Astrid: Luca Giordano workshop, The twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple, in: Ducke Astrid, Habersatter Thomas (Hrsg./Edi.): von | from 0 auf | to 100. Residenzgalerie Salzburg 1923-2023. Salzburg 2023, S./p. 142-143