The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple

What does The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple show?

Jesus stands near the right in a striped blue garment, one hand at His belt. Mary leans against His head and wraps an arm around Him; Joseph stands just behind. At the left, teachers sit close together with books and a scroll, while younger figures crowd the upper part of the group.

Gold-colored columns, patterned screens, a hanging lamp, and rich cloth fill the interior. Beyond the opening at the right, birds cross the sky and a seated man appears outside. Hunt’s detailed setting surrounds a very small exchange of faces and hands; these painted particulars are not a description supplied by Luke.

Hunt developed the original composition, now in Birmingham, between 1854 and 1860, seeking Jewish models in Jerusalem and continuing the picture in London. Its celebrated sale and six years of work belong to that original, not to the date of the Sudley canvas shown here. In this version too, the gilded doorway carries words from Malachi 3:1 about the Lord coming suddenly to His temple. The words stand above Joseph, who has been searching for the child already at home there.

Featured in: William Holman Hunt’s Bible Paintings: A Goat, a Gun and The Light of the World

Featured in: The Mysteries of the Rosary in Art: 20 Paintings, One for Each Mystery

Featured in: The Life of the Virgin Mary in Paintings

What does Luke 2:49 mean?

Mary and Joseph have returned to Jerusalem after discovering that Jesus is missing from their traveling company. They find Him among the teachers after three days. When Mary speaks of their anxious search, Jesus asks why they were looking for Him and whether they knew He had to be in His Father’s house.

Luke says the parents do not understand His answer. Their reunion therefore does not resolve every question about their son. Hunt’s embrace can help us consider the difficulty of loving a child whose calling exceeds our expectations. The Gospel also keeps the family bond in view: Jesus goes home with them and is obedient.

Luke 2:49 gives the answer that makes this embrace difficult to read: Mary has found her son, but His reference to His Father’s house opens a question that His parents do not yet understand.

Sources

Sudley House: The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple. Museum-contributed record and photograph identify this 1862 version, its medium, and dimensions.

Birmingham Museums Trust — The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple, 1896P80. Record and reproduction of the larger original, distinguished from the 1862 Sudley version shown here.

William Holman Hunt — Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, volume II (1905). The original composition’s Jerusalem and London development and the sale to Ernest Gambart; not the date of the later replica.

Luke 2 — Berean Standard Bible. The shepherds’ visit, Simeon’s prophecy, and the finding of Jesus in the temple in their Gospel context.