Giotto, The Arena Chapel Frescoes: The Marriage of the Virgin

1305-1306
Arena Chapel, Padua, Italy

As Joseph and Mary join hands in marriage a dove flies out from Joseph's staff and it breaks into blossom. The dove and the blossom are actually details from a previous episode in The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, in which the Temple priests choose a spouse for Mary. The young man at Joseph's back also appears at the far left in the chapel's Flight into Egypt panel as one of the "three boys" mentioned in The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and in the center of the panel picturing Joseph and the Rods.

This panel is the fifth from the left in the upper register on the north wall of the chapel, It is preceded by The Prayer of the Suitors and followed by The Bridal Procession.

Read more about images of the marriage.
Read more about images of St. Joseph.

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Source: osé Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro via this page at Wikimedia Commons..