Teaching in the Temple
In loving memory of Eugene Earle and Floride Croft Stone.
This charming composition, which pictures the twelve-year-old Jesus' visit to the temple in Jerusalem, is a favorite with many parishioners. The young Jesus is seated, in earnest dignity, at the top of a flight of tiled steps, between two pillars of the Temple. Directly above and behind him on the wall are numbers symbolizing the Ten Commandments, and a repeated motif of the Blue Star of David. His startled parents are seen on the right, making gestures expressive of wonder and reverence.
Jesus is not looking at his parents nor at us. He gazes toward the Doctors with whom he has been speaking, and perhaps a little past them, as if reflecting privately on what has been said. His left hand holds a Bible; his right hand is raised in blessing.
The three splendidly dressed Doctors on the left are all attention. One gazes intently at the child; one is searching for a text in the Bible; and one seated in the foreground has at his feet a whole potful of scrolls, one of which he is holding in his hand.