Giotto, The Suitors' Rods in the Temple
1303-1305
Fresco
Scrovegni Chapel, Padua
In the Protevangelium of James and other apocrypha certain men are called to bring their staffs to the high priest in the Temple. He takes the staffs in to the altar and prays over them. When a dove emerges from Joseph's staff the priest knows that it is Joseph that God has chosen as spouse for the young virgin Mary.
On the left in this image the men outside wait prayerfully for a sign. Joseph is the man on the far left with the halo. He has a gray beard because in the Protevangelium when the high priest tells him he has been chosen he protests that he is too old for such a young girl.
On the right the high priest and two others (priests?) are inside the Temple, praying before the rods on the altar. Above the rods is a faded gray image of a hand reaching down from above. The Temple is pictured as a medieval church with three naves. The priests pray in the central nave, facing an apse with an altar where the rods have been arranged. The left and right naves are much narrower, and the right one is only partially visible. This cramped layout is made even more confusing by the blue "sky" above the altar.
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Read more about images of Mary's marriage to Joseph.
Read more about images of St. Joseph.
Photographed at the site by Richard Stracke, shared under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.