In accordance with the Apocryphal Protoevangelion of James, the Virgin is depicted as a three-year-old child being taken to the temple and presented to the high priest, accompanied by her parents, Joachim and Anne, and the daughters of Zion carrying their tapers. The figures which comprise the scene are grouped before the canopied altar and the entrance to the sanctuary. On the left, before the door of the sanctuary is Zacharias, receiving Mary. She precedes her parents, who are followed by the daughters of Zion. At the upper left edge, on a stepped base, which is roofed with a canopy and symbolizes the holy of holies, sits the Virgin. She, the 'living ark', according to the Apocryphal Gospel and the hymnology of the Orthodox Church, is represented being fed by an angel.
Information obtained from the
Hellenic Ministry of Culture, Treasures of Mt. Athos