The Marriage of the Virgin (detail) Oil on panel, c.1500 by Perugino, Pietro (c.1445-1523)
This large altarpiece was originally assigned to the cathedral of San Lorenzo in Perugia, Italy, and displayed alongside the holy relic of the Virgin Mary’s “sacred ring”. Initially commissioned to Pinturicchio, the Italian High Renaissance master Pietro Perugino took over the work to its completion. Later, in 1797, the picture was looted by Napoleon and is now in the Musée des Beaux- Arts of Caen, France. The story of the espousal and wedding of the Virgin Mary to St Joseph is not mentioned in the canonical Gospels but is covered in several apocryphal sources, with later redactions in the 13th century Golden Legend. This detail of the painting focuses on the moment of espousal between the Virgin and St Joseph, when the high priest of the Jewish temple offers Mary’s hand to receive the wedding ring from Joseph. Borne above Joseph’s head is a flowering rod, which according to the Golden Legend, was the sign that revealed Joseph to be the divinely chosen spouse of Mary. The painting evokes the setting of an ideal Italian Renaissance piazza, with an imposing octagonal building in the background, referring both to the Jewish temple and the ideals of classical harmony and proportion. By contrast, the wedding party is grouped together close to the viewer, with animated expressions of reaction and exchange. To enhance the sense of identification with 16th century viewers, the Virgin’s attendants at the ceremony are conceived as fashionable ladies of Perugino’s day.
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