Christ Teaching in the Temple

Defendente Ferrari's Christ Teaching in the Temple presents the twelve-year-old Jesus confounding the learned doctors with his knowledge, the only Gospel narrative of Christ's childhood between the Nativity and his adult ministry. This scene from Luke 2, showing the anxious parents finding their lost son engaged in learned discourse with the Temple authorities, had obvious appeal for patrons who valued learning and its spiritual dimensions. Ferrari's Piedmontese interpretation, with its Flemish-influenced figure types and warm color harmonies absorbed from the Savoy court's collections, creates an intimate narrative scene set within the elaborate architectural setting typical of his work.

The devotional composition is rendered with attention to the expressive and contemplative qualities that served the painting's function as an aid to prayer and meditation.