The plot of the Presentation of Jesus icon tells of the meeting of the High Priest of the Jerusalem temple Simeon with the Saviour Jesus Christ. According to the tradition of the Old Testament, on the 40th day after the Birth of Jesus Christ, Mary was to bring the baby to Jerusalem temple. The action takes place in the temple: Simeon the God-Receiver is standing under the canopy at the arched entrance in a two-horned miter and robes of the high priest and receiving baby Jesus on a veil from the hands of the lady in a crimson dress. A young maidservant is standing behind the lady’s back and holding a basket with two turtle doves which is a symbolic sacrifice of purification. Joseph and Mary are depicted behind the maidservant. While painting the icon the master, probably, used a Western European engraving with this plot as a model, but he built an independent composition and enriched it with small realistic details.
The icon of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple originated from St. George’s Church in the village of Ekiman’ near Polotsk and belongs to the local school of icon painting.