c. 1475-1495

The Marriage of the Virgin, with the Expulsion of Saint Joachim from the Temple, the Angel Appearing to Saint Joachim, the Meeting at the Golden Gate, the Birth of the Virgin, and the Presentation of the Virgin

Netherlandish (active Louvain and Haarlem), active c. 1475 - c. 1495

The landscape in the background provides a single setting for five episodes in the story of the Virgin's birth and childhood that led to her marriage to Joseph, which is shown in the foreground. In the upper left, Joachim, Mary's father, is expelled from the temple for having no children. In the far distance, an angel announces to Joachim and the shepherds that he will have a child who will be the mother of Jesus. In the upper right, Joachim and Mary's mother, Anne, embrace at Jerusalem's Golden Gate in expectation of their coming parenthood. In the lower left, the Virgin is born, and in the lower right, she is presented at the temple as a young girl.