Study for "The Presentation of Christ in the Temple" (for Saint Ulrich, Vienna) (c. 1750): Art, History and Details

Study for "The Presentation of Christ in the Temple" (for Saint Ulrich, Vienna) (c. 1750) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Franz Anton Maulbertsch (Austrian, 1724–1796).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This loosely painted sketch is the preliminary design for an altarpiece in the Church of Saint Ulrich, Vienna. Mary and Joseph have brought the infant Jesus to the temple to be inducted into the Jewish faith; the aged priest Simeon cradles the infant in his arms, turning his gaze to heaven as he realizes that he is holding the Son of God. Strong contrasts of light and shadow underscore the drama of the moment. The frame is not original to this painting, but was made by an Austrian craftsman in the mid-1700s. Its florid style suits Maulbertsch’s flickering brushwork, and reflects the tradition of wood sculpture from Central Europe seen in other objects in the CMA's collection.

Object facts

• Title: Study for "The Presentation of Christ in the Temple" (for Saint Ulrich, Vienna)
• Date: c. 1750
• Creator attribution: Franz Anton Maulbertsch (Austrian, 1724–1796)
• Culture: Austria
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on canvas
• Dimensions: Framed: 90 x 70 x 9 cm (35 7/16 x 27 9/16 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 69.5 x 52.3 cm (27 3/8 x 20 9/16 in.)
• Collection: P - Miscellaneous
• Department: European Painting and Sculpture
• Accession number: 1963.326

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Garas, Klára. Franz Anton Maulbertsch 1724-1796. Budapest, HU : Verlag der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1960.
• De Tolnay, Charles. "Ein unbekanntes Frühwerk des Franz Anton Maulbertsch." In Hahnloser, Hans R., and Ellen J. Beer. Festschrift Hans R. Hahnloser zum 60. Ellen J. Beer, Paul Hofer, Luc Mojon, eds., 397-404. Basel: Birkhauser Verlag, 1961.
• Garas, Klàra. "Nachträge und Erganzungen zum Werk Franz Anton Maulbertschs." Pantheon XXI (1963): 29-37.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.