Zusammenfassung / Abstract
“The Lamb and the Dove – A new Interpretation of Carlo Saraceni’s altarpiece for San Simeone Profeta in Rome” – Carlo Saraceni’s (1579–1620) altarpiece painted around 1610 for the church of San Simeone Profeta in Rome (Pala Lancelotti), and exhibited in the Galleria Barberini (Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica), is one of the Venetian painter’s masterpieces. This paper aims to propose a new interpretation of the painting. In line with the patronage of the original location, the author argues that the dove does not symbolise the Holy Spirit, as hitherto sustained, but the sacrificial animal destined for the Purification at the Temple (Lev 12). This interpretation takes into account the psychological density of the representation, in which the Infant Jesus is ascribed the role of the other sacrificial offering, prescribed by Mosaic law: the lamb. Instead of “The Virgin and Saint Anne teaching Jesus about the Holy Spirit”, the altarpiece should rather be entitled “The Preparation for the Presentation in the Temple” or “Contemplation on the Sacrifice of Christ”.