  About the Artwork
  
  
  This early work by Charles Le Brun, whom Louis XIV, King of France, dubbed “the greatest French painter of all time” was intended as an altarpiece for the chapel of the Hôtel-Dieu, a hospital in the French city of Lyon where Le Brun stayed on his return from artistic training in Rome. The devout expressions of the central figures with their upraised eyes and upturned faces are typical of Le Brun’s enduring interest in depicting human emotion in a clear, understandable manner. Even viewers unfamiliar with the biblical account of the presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple would understand that the event is intended to inspire reverence and awe. As director of the Royal Academy, the major teaching institution in the French art world, Le Brun went on to revolutionize the representation of expression and gesture in French painting.
  
  
  Title
  The Presentation of Christ in the Temple
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1645
  
  Artist
  Charles Le Brun
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1619-1690
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  French
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Oil on canvas
  
  
  Dimensions
  Unframed: 105 1/8 × 76 1/2 inches (267 × 194.3 cm)
  Overall (stretcher): 107 × 78 7/8 inches (271.8 × 200.3 cm)
  Framed: 122 × 92 7/8 × 4 1/2 inches (309.9 × 235.9 × 11.4 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Paintings
  
  
  Department
  European Painting
  
  
  Credit
  Founders Society Purchase, contribution of Mr. and Mrs. Allan Shelden III in memory of Allan Shelden IV
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  73.1
  
  
  Copyright
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