“Meeting at the Golden Gate” demonstrates the story of both Virgin Mary’s parents, Anna and Joachim, in which the elderly husband and wife embrace and kiss each other at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem, when learning separately from angels that they would have a child. At the moment the couple kissed, the Virgin Mary was conceived, according to the idea of the Immaculate Conception. Giotto communicates the happy event through the grouping and positioning of the figures in individual sections. The gentle gazes, gestures, and postures of all the participants of the scene eloquently speak of people’s tenderness for one another. —Diana Guber, “Giotto’s Religious Scenes “In All Respects Human,” 2020.
Giotto di Bondone,”Meeting at the Golden Gate,” ca. 1305. Fresco in the Arena Chapel, Padua.