CHRIST DISCOVERED IN THE TEMPLE:

Simone Martini 1342

In the unlikely setting of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool is a study of the 12- year- old Jesus unexpectedly discovered in the Temple at Jerusalem by his parents (Luke 2: 42-51). Anyone who has parented an adolescent can identify with the emotions of Mary & Joseph.

Mary sits at one side of the panel while Jesus sits at the other. Each is bewildered. Mary and Joseph are hurt and astonished that their child had left them for three days without a proverbial “by-your-leave.” Jesus is hurt or astonished that they would not realise that he would be in the Temple, his “Father’s House.”

Poor St Joseph tries to understand why their child has treated them like this. Martini shows us a daringly truculent Jesus and is equally daring in admonishing his mother. He depicts those moments in everyone’s life when we experience the shock of misunderstanding those whom we love, an “AHA” moment. Eyes lock onto mother and son with stony force, while hands are withdrawn or extended admonishingly.

Martini is skilled in showing body language. He does not set the drama in the real temple, but some “golden” place where painful emotions can be resolved in an atmosphere representative of heaven. Joseph is lost in the centre of this witty picture, earnestly trying to reconcile what cannot be reconciled.

He was among the greatest artists of 14th century Italy. This work, however, was painted in Avignon in France, where the papal court was in exile from Rome. This lavish picture was presumably commissioned for private devotion by a highranking patron, possibly the pope himself.

Peter Sellars