The Expulsion of Joachim from the Temple by Domenico Ghirlandaio
This is a story from the Christian folklore (not biblical) where two parents Joachim and Anne could not have children for 20 years. The wait was not in vain because they eventually had the ‘Most Honored of Women,’ the Virgin Mary. But during the childless period, being a priest, Joachim walks into the Temple of Jerusalem on a feast day with a lamb for sacrifice. He gets kicked out by the high priest and the reason is his sterility (major stigma at the time). Another lamb is accepted in its place in the background.
Ghirlandaio moved the scene from Jerusalem to Florence where the event is now happening in a Renaissance-era loggia, and typical Florentine architecture is seen on the sides. He added two groups of fashionable, clean shaven Florentines. The group on the left includes a proud young man looking at us, Lorenzo Tornabuoni (son of the commissioner) among his friends. On the right, the master painter added himself and some friends. He’s the one whose hand gesture is telling us: That’s my work and I know I’m good!