Abrazo de San Joaquín y Santa Ana ante la Puerta Dorada

Ambrosius Benson's Embrace of Saints Joachim and Anne at the Golden Gate depicts the apocryphal meeting of the Virgin Mary's parents at Jerusalem's gate, the moment that resulted in Mary's miraculous conception. This charming proto-Immaculate Conception scene was popular in Spain and the Low Countries, where Marian devotion was particularly intense. Benson, likely of Italian origin but working primarily in Bruges, produced many works for Spanish patrons through Antwerp's export trade, and this subject's popularity in Iberia would have made it a commercially successful composition for his workshop.

The tender embrace of the elderly couple is set against an architectural backdrop of the Golden Gate. Benson's refined Bruges technique renders the emotional reunion with the warmth characteristic of his mature style.