When the time came for the purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought the child to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord.” They also offered the sacrifice required by the Law of the Lord: a pair of doves or two young pigeons. At that time there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah of the Lord. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God [...] There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. (Luke 2,22-28 and 2,36-39)

The presentation of Jesus in the temple is narrated in the Gospel of Luke. Joseph and Mary comply with the Law of Moses, which prescribed that a woman who gave birth to a male child was considered ritually unclean and had to undergo a purification rite after forty days, also presenting an offering at the Temple, either a lamb or, in the case of the poor, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. In this context, the encounter with Simeon and Anna takes place, two elderly prophets who had been awaiting the coming of the Messiah and were rewarded by seeing him.

It is interesting how Nieva focused the attention on Simeon and Anna, those elderly figures who recognize the true identity of the child; the child’s parents are not shown, while the rest of the characters seem absorbed in their everyday activities and trade within the Temple.