3-050-901 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Christ among the Doctors, 1622. Additional Info: The scene of the Finding in the Temple, where a twelve-year-old Jesus amazes the temple elders with his biblical knowledge, was a familiar motif already in early Christian art. The story in the Gospel of Luke relates how Jesus became separated from his parents after their Passover visit to Nazareth, and how it was not until three days later that they found their son in the temple deep in discussion with the elders. The scene became popular once again in seventeenth-century art, and many painters, especially in Southern Europe, were attracted to the theme and its theatrical possibilities for drama and contrast. Dirck van Baburen’s painting features such a dramatic depiction, where a densely packed group of elders are portrayed through their arm gestures, draped garb, and puzzled gazes as they stand and sit around the young Jesus.