Marco Marziale, 'The Circumcision', 1500
About the work
Overview
A crowd clusters around an altar in a church filled with mosaics. On the right, a bearded priest wields a knife; on the left the Virgin Mary holds the Christ Child. Behind her is her husband Saint Joseph, holding a pair of doves. This is the circumcision of Christ, as described in the Gospel of Luke (2: 21–30).
This large and highly decorative picture was commissioned in 1500 for the church of San Silvestro in Cremona by the Venetian jurist and poet Tommaso Raimondi. He is shown in profile on the far right, wearing a luxurious red robe. His wife, Doralice Cambiago, faces him on the far left.
The artist signed and dated the painting on the cartellino (a piece of parchment or paper depicted within the painting) attached to the front of the altar. He was Venetian, and the painting’s composition echoes The Circumcision by the Venetian painter Giovanni Bellini (also in the National Gallery’s collection). The mosaic vaults reflect Venetian church decoration.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Circumcision
- Artist
- Marco Marziale
- Artist dates
- active about 1492 - about 1507
- Date made
- 1500
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 223.4 × 152.7 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated and inscribed
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1869
- Inventory number
- NG803
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 19th-century English Frame
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.