Circumcision of Jesus

Circumcision of Jesus, from the Seven Sorrows polyptych (around 1494), depicts the ceremony in the Temple eight days after the Nativity at which the child was formally given his name and entered into the covenant of Israel. The subject was important in Christian theology as the first shedding of Christ's blood — the beginning of the sacrificial narrative that culminated in the Crucifixion — and in medieval and Renaissance devotional practice, relics of the Holy Prepuce were venerated at various European shrines. Dürer's treatment of the temple ceremony combines the precision of his early detailed style with the emotional seriousness appropriate to the theological weight of a subject that marked the beginning of Christ's redemptive sacrifice.

The panel's compact composition and angular drapery style are consistent with Dürer's early works, showing the influence of his Nuremberg training in the detailed rendering of the temple interior and ritual implements.