The Presentation in the Temple

The composition is decidedly classical, set to a slow, solemn, processional rhythm; the ritual majesty of the figures, underscored by the heavy, dense hollowing of the stony drapery and the monodic repetition of the gestures, opens with complete naturalness into the dismayed cry of the aged Anna, who sums up with graphic vividness, and with a truly “antique” gravity, the sculptor’s human, tremulously emotional participation in the exaltation of the sacred, transcendent grandeur evoked by the biblical episode.