The high priest of the Temple inspects the circumcised Christ child, whose head is glowing. Etching by M. Küssell after J.W. Baur.

Bible. N.T. Luke 2.25-32. A small cage sits next to the infant Christ. It contains two turtledoves, an offering by Mary and Joseph at the presentation of Jesus after Mary's purification. On both sides of the picture there are children playing or grasping at their parents' garments. On the left-hand side a dog washes itself; on the right another dog stands in front of the altar, next to a boy with a censer. The two candles which were being carried in the previous print are now standing on the altar

The circumcision scene has a wide reaching symbolic resonance: it shows the first shedding of the blood of Christ, hence the beginning of the Passion; it is the moment Christ is named; furthermore it displays the Judaism through which Christianity must pass